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I 


The Flight of Puss Pandora 


“ One may purr and purr, and still he a spit-cat" 








4 > 









‘ 1 ran straight into his arms.”’ 


Frontispiece. See page 242 





The 

Flight of Pu ss Pandora 

By 

Caroline Fuller 

Author of “ The Alley Cat’s Kitten,” “ Across the 
Campus ; A Story for Girls,” etc. 



Illustrated from Drawings after Photographs 
by the Author 


Boston 

Little, Brown, and Company 

1906 


LiSRARYof COi:aR£SS 
Two Copies Received 
SEP 24 1906 

^ Copyriirnt Entry 
I CLAoS ^ XXc., No. 


COPY B. 



Copyright, ipo6. 

By Little, Brown, and Company. 
jill rights reserved 

Published September, 1906 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.8.A. 


To My Godson 


FRANKLIN WASHBURN 


Norlands,' 
August, igos 










Contents 


CHAPTER ONE 

Among the Masts 

CHAPTER TWO 

An Elevator Trip 7 

CHAPTER THREE 


The Purr-Puss and the Spit-Cat 19 

CHAPTER FOUR 

Two Adventures 35 

CHAPTER FIVE 

The Battles of Bachelor 47 

CHAPTER SIX 

In a Coat-Pocket 59 

CHAPTER SEVEN 

A Pink Tea 73 

CHAPTER EIGHT 


An Unmannerly Hostess 


89 


CONTENTS 


. CHAPTER NINE 

A Hook and Ladder Kitten 103 

CHAPTER TEN 

Friends to the Rescue 116 

CHAPTER ELEVEN 

Little Arbutus 129 

CHAPTER TWELVE 

Little John 143 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN 

The Perfumery Garden 159 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN 

Behind the Footlights 17^ 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN 

A Luncheon Party 189 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN 

A Change of Residence 205 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 

The Subway Cat 216 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 

The Rest of It 


230 


List of Illustrations 


Full-Page Illustrations 

“ ‘I ran straight into his arms’ ” Frontispiece 

“‘Hello! got another passenger,’ said the elevator 

boy, grinning ” Puge ii 

“ That alluring little tail still waved Its thanks ” . “182 


Illustrations in the Text 


“ She would climb to the tops of the highest 
chimneys ” 

Hominy 

The Purr-Puss and the Spit-Cat 

“ Particularly pleasant to chew ” 

“ ‘ Old Bumble-Bee I ’ called Bachelor ” 

In a Coat-Pocket 

“What a singularly handsome cat” 

“ A fine game of ‘ Rip-the-lace-curtains ’ ” . 

“ Her bed had trotted out to the fire-truck ” 

Rosa 


Pag^ 3 
“ 15 

“ 20 

“ 36 

“ 48 

“ 60 

“ 84 

“ 95 


“ 104 

“ 125 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


“ His days of usefulness as fireman were over” . 

A Leading Lady 

“ ‘Oh, they do nothing but hop,’ he said wearily ” 
“Turned her fantastic little face to the audience” . 
“ The charm that lies in a furry face ” . 

“ She made friends that Annabel would never have 
approved of” 

“ Miss Harry, of Charleston ” 

“My son, Virgil, two months old” 

Emma 


Page 132 


(< 

(< 

ti 

ft 

ft 

ft 

ft 

ff 


137 

171 

179 

203 

218 

232 

244 

246 


The Flight of Puss Pandora 


CHAPTER ONE 

AMONG THE MASTS 

M y first memory is of two round 
balls of fur sunning themselves 
on a red tin roof, and watching the 
clothes which flapped like white 
sails on a line above our heads. 

The large ball of fur was my mother, the 
little one — myself, and our home was at the 
top of a very high building, of the kind called 
‘‘sky-scrapers,'' where the janitor lived. 

The janitor's wife loved flowers, and our 
playground was gay with the red and yellov/ 
flame of nasturtiums that danced from box to 
box along the roof ; while the borders of sweet 
alyssum often trembled from the touch of a 
whisking tail or forbidden paw, for we loved 
I I 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


flowers too. Indeed, my mother went so far 
as to say that she had seen flowers growing in 
the ground, quite apart from boxes or pots, and 
that out in the fields there were so many that 
one could chew them without being cuffed. 
This was said to comfort me after being 
punished for coming in with too many sweet 
alyssunv blossoms clinging to my whiskers. 

My mother’s name was Annie, and she was 
what is known as a “ coon cat.” Some people 
say that there is no such thing as a coon cat, 
but I am sure that they must be mistaken, 
because my mother was one ; she had a splen- 
did bushy tail like an Angora, with a fur boa 
around her neck. 

She was born in Maine and had come to 
New York in a ship with the janitor’s wife, 
and always after that she had thought that she 
was out at sea. The high chimneys around us 
were the masts of vessels, and the roar of the 
traffic below was the breaking of waves. 

The janitor’s wife often said that my mother’s 
mind had never been quite right since the trip, 
2 


AMONG THE MASTS 


because she would climb to the tops of the 
highest chimneys, and sit by the hour, looking 
out over the city, not answering when called — 



“ SHE WOULD CLIMB TO THE TOPS OF THE HIGHEST 
CHIMNEYS 

"Koom down, koom do^nyVerriicktes ^hierchen. 
Ah, you von crazy cat ! ** 

But of course they could not understand 
that my dear mother was only watching the 
horizon for any sign of a new mast or sail, and 
3 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


as she was part coon it was quite natural that 
she should enjoy sitting in high places. 

I was not handsome like her, although my 
fur was thick, and I had an unusual amount of 
style to my tail, but the janitor and his wife 
consoled me by saying that I would probably 
grow up to have more sense. 

Their son, little Gottfried, often played with 
us on the roof, until the tin grew too hot for 
our toes, when we would retire into the shadow 
of the house, and no amount of coaxing could 
bring us out again. 

But one day Gottfried did not come, and we 
heard his mother crying. Soon afterwards we 
learned that he had met with an accident in the 
street, and was now at a hospital. 

‘‘What is a street?*' I asked my mother; 
and she replied, “It is their name for the bot- 
tom of the sea. Gottfried will have plenty of 
fish to eat if he lives there." 

And I too wished that I might make a visit 
to the street, and dine off fish, which I was just 
learning to enjoy. 


4 


AMONG THE MASTS 


A week later the janitor returned from the 
hospital and told us that Gottfried would come 
home the next day. He was nearly well again, 
and such a beautiful young lady had been to 
visit him, and read him stories in his own 
language. 

“ Ach, she vas angel-like ! ” he exclaimed. 
“And I says to her, ‘What in Himmefs name 
can I gif you in return for all you does for 
my poor son ? * She laugh and say she want 
nothings. And then I feel so bad I almost 
cry. And then the goot Gott puts it in her 
head to say, ‘ I have everytings I want but 
one little cat.' And I says, ‘ Thank Gott that 
He has placed it in my power to gif you what 
you need ! ' So to-night I take little Peter " 
(for that was what they called me) “ and I 
bring him to her house, as a present from a 
grateful father's heart." 

“ Ach, that is goot ! " said his wife, and after 
dinner she washed me very carefully, — not as 
my own mother does, but with a nail brush, — 
and rubbed me until all my uneven kitten-hairs 
5 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


stood on end. Then she tied a green and yellow 
striped ribbon around my neck, and when 
evening came they picked all the nasturtiums, — 
every one, — until only leaves and bare brown 
earth were left. Then they put me and the 
flowers in a basket, and shut my mother out 
on the roof when she tried to follow us. I 
heard the harsh grating of the elevator door on 
the floor below, and knew that I was at last to 
take a journey down to the bottom of that 
great ocean whose roar had always filled my 
ears. 

As they carried me off* I looked back 
through the glass door of our little house at 
my mother, expecting that she would still be 
there, crying for her child. But she seemed 
to have forgotten already, and I saw her 
beautiful tail waving slowly in the moonlight, 
as she stood, with silvered fur and wistful eyes, 
looking out to sea. 


6 


AN ELEVATOR TRIP 


CHAPTER TWO 

AN ELEVATOR TRIP 

T he name of “ Little Peter’s ” new 
mother was Miss Annabel Van 
Camp, and she lived with her brother 
in an apartment house between 
Columbus Avenue and Central Park West. 

Annabel’s brother was an instructor at 
Columbia College, and Annabel was a writer of 
children’s stories, some of which came out in 
Sl Nicholas^ while others did not so easily find 
a home. 

‘‘ My best stories are all refused,” she con- 
fided to the kitten who was perched upon her 
knee. “ It ’s only my bad ones that they 
really want.” 

“ E-u ! ” said the round-faced baby, gazing 
at and through Annabel as intently as if she 
saw make-believe grasshoppers walking up and 
down her spine. 


7 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ I *m going to name you Pandora because 
you ’re so full of curiosity. Pandora was a lady 
who opened a box and let lots of trouble out 
into the world. That ’s you, baby. I don’t 
doubt that she tried to swing on the curtains, too, 
and dug holes in the mashed potato, — that is, 
if they had mashed potato in those days.” 

E-u 1 ” replied Pandora, politely, although 
she thought it scarcely kind of her mistress to 
mention these little failings. 

Now, what is it ? ” 

For the kitten had scrambled up Annabel’s 
Scotch four-in-hand tie, leaving twenty little 
claw marks in the bright silk, and laid one 
paw softly on the moving lips. 

‘‘No offence intended, ” said Annabel, cheer- 
fully. “ I think Pandora is a much prettier 
name than Peter. Now I ’m going to write, 
and you must take a nice little maltese-and- 
white nap on that green cushion with the piny 
cover.” 

Pandora curled up obediently on the silken 
pine cones, until the fountain pen began to 
8 


AN ELEVATOR TRIP 


scratch. Then she climbed up on Annabel’s 
shoulder and added her own scratches to the 
procession, “ shinning” down her mistress’s arm 
as if it was a nice soft tree, and chasing the pen 
as she would have chased a shiny beetle with 
alluring thin legs. 

“ That won’t do at all,” said Annabel. 
‘‘There! you’ve wiped my last sentence out 
with your tail. You ’ll have to go into the 
kitchen.” 

“ Nice dog — huh ? ” remarked the “ green ” 
Swedish cook whom Annabel was training. 

“No, cat — cat,” corrected her mistress. 
“ She must stay here while I work. Don’t 
let her run out into the hall.” 

“ Sure, Van Camp,” said Elga, pleasantly, 
not understanding in the least. She had not 
yet seen the need of addressing her employers 
as Miss or Mr., for were they not both Van 
Camps ? and whether they were Miss or Mister 
concerned themselves alone. 

“ Run quick up,” she said, opening the door 
when Annabel had gone. “Van Camp wills.” 

9 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


And Pandora was whisked out of the kitchen 
like the puff-ball off a dandelion stem. 

“ E-u ? ” she remarked inquiringly, but no- 
body answered, so she decided that Elga had 
been right after all. It was easier to go down 
stairs than up, so she jumped carefully from 
step to step until she reached another little 
square hall, exactly like her own except for 
different smells in the kitchen. As she was 
wondering what to do next, the door opened, 
and out stalked a large cat, rather stiff in the 
joints, and with a general appearance of great 
age. He glanced at the stairs, then sat down 
patiently to wait for the elevator. 

“ Going up ? ” he asked, blinking at Pandora 
with near-sighted eyes. 

“ Yes, sir,” said Pandora, respectfully. “ I 
don’t know.” 

Better come along,” he returned. Row ! 
Ow!” 

And the door of the flat opened again. A 
quaint old lady stepped out, saying, “ Ah, b’ess 
his heart ! did maman forget to ring the bell ? ” 
10 



“ ‘ Hello! got another passenger,’ said the elevator boy, grinning. 

Page 1 1 . 



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AN ELEVATOR TRIP 


and she pressed the electric button. There 
was a slam below, and the elevator came up. 

Take Bachelor to the roof,** she said, and 
the ancient cat walked sedately in, with Pandora 
scuttling at his heels. 

Hello ! got another passenger,*’ said the 
elevator boy, grinning. “All aboard for the 
Cherry Blossom Grove!** 

And the elevator went up to the top of the 
house, or nearly to the top ; for when it stopped 
Bachelor jumped down from the seat which 
he had mounted in order to examine his 
whiskers in the glass, and calling to Pandora, 
led her up another short flight of stairs. 

“ Making a long stay ? ** he asked, as the kit- 
ten scrambled painstakingly along beside him. 

“ I *ve taken the third-floor flat and the 
people who live in it,** she replied, “ but the 
length of my stay is uncertain.** 

“ Dear me, indeed 1 ** said Bachelor, thought- 
fully. “ Well, you *d better meet some of the 
neighbors while you *re up here. It will be no 
trouble to make you acquainted.** 

II 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


But as they emerged on the roof he stopped 
short, and his hairs, all except those on his 
tail, stood on end. 

What ’s the matter ? asked Pandora in 
alarm, yet wondering why, if he was frightened, 
his tail had not swelled with the j*est of him. 

‘‘ Boys,” he said briefly. Gideon, who lives 
upstairs, and a stranger. They are doing some- 
thing with that box.” 

“ Does Gideon scratch ? ” asked Pandora. 

‘‘No, he’s gentle, but his friend looks 
dangerous. He has too large a stomach for 
a perfectly safe boy.” 

“ It ’s awful hard lines she won’t let you keep 
any pets,” the unsafe boy was saying to his 
friend. “ Why, our flat ’s lots smaller than 
yours, and we have a cat and two dogs and a 
parrot.” 

“ I know it,” said Gideon, bitterly. “ But 
you’ve got a real mother — the decent sort, 
and mine ’s only a ’dopted aunt. She won’t 
stand for a bird even, or a tame bug — nothing 
that a chap can call his own.” 

12 


AN ELEVATOR TRIP 


“ Did you ever try her with a cat ? Ain’t 
you got any mice in your flat? ” 

“We did have a mouse, but Aunt Pen 
caught it in one of those catch ’em alive traps 
with a wheel, and then she would n’t even let 
me keep the mouse.” 

“Well, this is something that can live 
all right out of doors,” said the fat boy, 
plunging his arm under his jacket, and what 
had appeared to be a fat stomach suddenly 
collapsed, as he drew out a kicking white 
rabbit. 

“ There you are ! ” he said. “ This is 
Hominy. Ain’t he a stunner for twenty-five 
cents? You never could have got him for 
that in the world, if I had n’t thrown in that 
piece of harness that Curls gave me for Polly’s 
tail feathers.” 

“ What did Curls want with the tail feathers ? ” 
asked Gideon. 

“ Made a green-tailed pigeon for the show. 
Axle bet him he could n’t raise a new kind of 
pigeon before Christmas. But Curls did, — 

13 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


tied the feathers on with threads so they did n’t 
show. It was a great success.” 

“ I ’ll take Hominy downstairs when Aunt 
Pen goes to Committee meeting,” said Gideon. 
“ That ’s the only chance we ’ll get.” 

“ Hello ! whose cats ? ” asked the other boy, 
suddenly observing Bachelor and Pandora. 

“ Oh, that old fellow belongs to a French 
lady on the second floor. She walks with a 
cane. He does n’t do that, but he ’s too stiff 
to walk upstairs, so he cries until somebody 
comes and rings the elevator bell for him. 
We all do it because he’s so cute. I haven’t 
seen the kitten before, but I think she belongs 
to Miss Annabel Van Camp. She told me 
she was going to have one. Come, puss, puss ! ” 

And Pandora trotted over to meet him with 
her tail in the air. 

‘‘ Let her see the rabbit,” said Gideon’s 
friend, whose name it appears was Weasels. 
And as Pandora had never before seen a 
rabbit, she hurried up to examine Hominy’s 
unquiet nose. But Hominy pointed his ears 

14 


AN ELEVATOR TRIP 


forward in terror, and when Pandora kissed 
him, gave a great stamp of rage, and a funny 
little grunt which meant, ‘‘If you embarrass me 
like that again in public, I ’ll knock you over 
with my best hind 
leg, and kick you 
in the stomach.” 

Pandora under- 
stood, and rounded 
up her tiny back 
with a spit, which 
meant : “If you 
scorn my atten- 
tions like that I ’ll 
claw red lines on 
those pink ears of 
yours, and do un- 
speakable things to your eyes.” 

“ Put Hominy in his box,” said Gideon, 
anxiously, “ we don’t want a fight.” 

So Hominy was thrust into his box, which 
had a smaller one inside for a bed, while the 
top served as a kind of balcony or smoking 

15 



THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


room, just as Hominy preferred to use it. 
The two boys went off downstairs, and Pandora 
saw that Bachelor was looking anxious, and 
trying to see if his whiskers were on straight. 
Glancing in the direction of his interest she 
saw another cat picking her way daintily across 
an adjoining roof. 

“Do I look all right?** he asked in an 
excited whisper. 

“ You look just about the same as you did 
a minute ago,** said Pandora, impatiently, won- 
dering how any cat could think so much about 
himself. 

“ That *s Miss Harry,** he explained in a 
hurried aside. “ She belongs to a Southern 
family next door.** And he jerked importantly 
across the roof to meet her, while Miss Harry 
sat down and appeared to be looking the other 
way. 

They had a short conversation, and then 
Bachelor come back with a most gratified 
expression. 

“ She is willing to meet you,** he said. 

i6 


AN ELEVATOR TRIP 


“ I did n’t care to speak at first,” said Miss 
Harry, as Pandora approached, “ because I 
feared that you might not be well-born. I ’m 
from Charleston.” 

“ Where ’s that ? ” asked Pandora, saucily ; 
but Miss Harry ignored the question. 

“ When I found that you belonged to the 
Van Camps I was willing to know you, because 
I Ve heard my mistress say that the Van Camps 
are of gentle blood.” 

“ Oh, indeed ! ” said Pandora, indignantly. 
“ But if you want to know what I think, I 
consider you an outrageous, ridiculous little 
snob, and I don’t care whether you know me 
or not ! ” 

And with that she bristled her foolish young 
tail and walked away. 

‘‘ Well I did you ever 1 ” exclaimed Miss 
Harry, breathlessly. And Bachelor added in a 
hoarse growl, ‘‘ Most unfeeling.” 

“ Kitty, kitty ! Oh, Elga, where ’s Pan- 
dora ? ” called Annabel’s distressed voice from 
the floor below. 


17 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


‘‘ E-u ! ” said Pandora, scrambling down the 
short flight of steps. But she did not attempt 
to go any further. No indeed I for had not 
Bachelor taught her what to do ? The elevator 
was there, and walking into it she jumped 
up on the plush-covered seat and said, ‘‘ E-u ! ** 

‘‘ Well, by George ! ” exclaimed the elevator 
boy, in amazement, “ if I have n*t got another 
boss.” 

He took the elevator to the third floor and 
called out, ‘‘Miss Van Camp, here’s your 
cat 1 ” 

Annabel embraced Pandora in relief, saying, 
“ Oh, you bad thing ! Where have you been ? 
Elga, why did you let her run into the hall ? ” 

“ Yes,” said Elga, with a vacant smile. “ Van 
Camp’s dog.” 

And Pandora had to let it go at that. 


i8 


PURR-PUSS AND SPIT-CAT 


CHAPTER THREE 

THE PURR-PUSS AND THE SPIT-CAT 

T he Purr-Puss and the Spit-Cat were 
not real kittens, as one might sup- 
pose, but two characters in the story 
that Annabel was writing. Annabel 
said that she took the idea from Shakespeare : 
“ One may purr and purr and still be a spit- 
cat.” And as she illustrated these stories of 
hers with photographs, it was one of Pandora’s 
privileges to pose for them. 

“ Posing,” Pandora found, meant to wake 
up when one was sleepy, and be made to chase 
one’s tail, or else to stop chasing it, just when 
it seemed most festive, and strike an angelic 
attitude on the table beside a vase of white 
lilies. This morning Annabel curled the 
kitten around her neck like a fur boa, and 
danced with her into the parlor, where Gideon 
was screwing the camera to the tripod. 

19 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Hello, Pandora,** he called, and Pandora 
tried to put up her tail in welcome, but owing 
to her position it went down instead. 



THE PURR-PUSS AND THE SPIT-CAT 


“ This thing *s got a game knee,** he com- 
plained. 

‘‘ I know it,** said Annabel. ‘‘ A dog rushed 
out and took it by the leg, one day, as if it 
were a tramp.** 

Where do we go first ? ** asked Gideon. 

Up Columbus Avenue. There *s a cat in 
every store.** And much to Pandora*s surprise 
20 


PURR-PUSS AND SPIT-CAT 


she was thrust into a silk work-bag, with her 
head out at the top, and taken for a trolley ride. 

“ Here *s a good place,” said Gideon, as the 
car stopped ; and they went into a butcher’s 
shop, where the man behind the counter greeted 
them with a smile. 

“ Peddlin’ cats?” he inquired. “We don’t 
have much call for them in our line.” 

“ Certainly not,” said Annabel. “ I ’m mak- 
ing photographs for a story, and want to borrow 
a black kitten. We thought you might have 
one.” 

“ Sure ! ” he said eagerly ; and, going to the 
back room, called, “ Emma, come, Emma ! ” 

An enormous striped cat, nearly as big as a 
dog, bounded into the store, and leaped upon 
the meat-block. 

“You can’t do better than that, now, can 
you ? ” observed the butcher with pride. 

“ He ’s very handsome,” said Annabel. “ But 
you see the one in my story is a little black 
kitten, not a big gray cat, so we ’ll have to look 
somewhere else.” 


21 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


You won’t find a better subject on this 
street. Why, this cat cured me of rheumatism, 
and I would n’t take a thousand dollars for 
him.” 

“ He ’s beautiful,” said Annabel. “ Perhaps 
I ’ll come back and take him some other 
day.” 

“ Can’t you change the story ? ” asked the 
butcher, confidentially, leaning over the counter. 
“ Could n’t your black kitten go walkin’ down 
the street some day and make the acquaintance 
of a friend named Emma ? ” 

“ I ’ll see,” laughed Annabel, as they left the 
store. 

A crowd of interested children began to fol- 
low them, and Gideon asked, Say, kids, do 
you know any one who ’s got a black kitten ? ” 

“My mama-cat has,” said a shy little girl, 
with one finger in her mouth. 

“Well, take us to your mama-cat, then,” 
said Gideon. 

So they followed the little girl, who led them 
through a dingy hall that smelled of cooking, 
22 


PURR-PUSS AND SPIT-CAT 


and up four flights of stairs into a kitchen, 
where her mother was washing the floor. 

‘‘ What do you mean by this, Sally ? ” the 
woman called angrily. “ Take them folks 
right out in the hall. I won't have no agents 
in here ! ” 

‘‘ Oh, I beg your pardon," said Annabel, 

but we did n’t mean to intrude upon you, 
and we ’re not agents.’’ 

When she had explained the object of her 
search the woman smiled grimly, and threw 
open the door under her sink, where, curled 
upon a heap of dishcloths, lay a thin gray cat 
with a little new-born black kitten. 

“ I ’m so sorry,’’ Annabel said, but I ’m 
afraid this won’t do. We were after a kitten 
old enough to purr.’’ 

‘‘ Well, you ’d orter informed my cat in time, 
then,’’ said the woman, crossly. She done 
the best she could.’’ 

Annabel apologized and slipped meekly 
downstairs. They walked up the street in 
silence until Gideon gave a whoop, and nearly 
23 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


dropped his camera, for on the opposite corner, 
in a druggist's window, sat a sedate black kitten 
washing its paws. 

“ I hate to go in there and ask,” said 
Annabel. “ The clerks all look so busy.” 

‘‘ Let 's go in and price something they 're 
not likely to keep,” said Gideon, hopefully, 
“ like a guinea-pig or a wash-boiler.” 

No, but we can have an ice-cream soda,” 
said Annabel. 

So they placed Pandora on a show-case full 
of tooth-brushes and hot-water bags and feeding 
cups, while a severe-looking clerk served them. 

^‘Is that your kitten ? ” asked Annabel, 
timidly, taking out her purse! 

** Pay at the desk, please,'' said the clerk, 
turning away to attend to a customer at the 
prescription counter. 

“ The mean duffer ! ” exclaimed Gideon, in 
disgust. ‘‘ I *11 ask the old fellow who *s put- 
ting up prescriptions.” 

Say, Mr. — Mr. Pharmacy,” he inquired, 
“ can we photograph your cat ? ” 

24 


PURR-PUSS AND SPIT-CAT 


A mustard plaster ? ’’ asked the old man, 
obligingly. “ Here it is, my little man ; ten 
cents, please.** 

I said cat,** shouted Gideon, refusing the 
offered package. 

“ Hey ? ** inquired his friend. 

“ He *s deaf,** called another clerk, who was 
weighing borax. “We always write his orders.** 
“ Oh,** said Gideon, “ I was just beginning 
to think he might be.** So he took a piece of 
wrapping-paper, and traced laboriously, “ May 
we photograph your cat ? ** 

The old man regarded it through his spec- 
tacles, then shouted so suddenly that Gideon 
jumped, “ He *s dead.** 

Gideon was too startled to say anything 
more, and returned to Annabel with the in- 
formation that the old man was crazy. 

“ May we photograph that black kitten ? ** 
asked Annabel, patiently, of the clerk who had 
turned away. 

“ Certainly,** he said, putting a label on a 
jar of blue crystals. 


25 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Oh, thank you so much, but it 's too dark 
to get a picture in here. May we take the 
kitten out into the little yard behind ? ** 

‘‘ We have no little yard behind.” 

“ Then may I take it into the next yard, 
behind the candy store — if Um very careful 
to bring it back ? ” 

I *m sure I don’t know,” said the clerk. 

Excuse me a moment ; ” and this time he 
vanished for good. 

Annabel was in despair, but made one more 
effort when she paid for her soda. “ Do you 
think I ’d be allowed to photograph that cat ? ” 
she asked of the cashier. 

“ What cat ? ” asked the girl, leaning forward 
to look. ‘‘That? Why, that isn’t our cat. 
I never set eyes on it before.” 

“ Then I can borrow it,” said Annabel, trium- 
phantly, and without waiting further, she 
tucked the kitten under her arm. But of 
course Pandora spit at it — who would n’t ? 
And it had to be transferred to Gideon, while 
Annabel took the camera. 

26 


PURR-PUSS AND SPIT-CAT 


Please may we photograph our kittens in 
your back yard ? ” she asked of the woman in 
the candy store. 

The woman came out from behind the counter 
and stared at them suspiciously, then snatched 
the black kitten angrily from Gideon's arms, 
saying, ‘‘ Where 'd you steal this cat ? " 

‘‘ Did n't steal it," said Gideon, indignantly. 
“ It was in the drug store, and they did n't 
know whose it was." 

She 's been gone since yesterday," said the 
woman, still unconvinced. 

‘‘We found her next door," explained An- 
nabel ; “and I 'm glad if she 's yours, because we 
were afraid she had no home. Would n't you 
like us to make a nice picture of your kitty ? " 

“How much 'd you charge?" asked the 
woman, scowling. 

“Oh, nothing at all. It's for a children's 
story, and I 'll gladly give you one of the pho- 
tographs to keep." 

“Well, go ahead, then," said the woman, 
“ I'll not hinder you." 


27 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


But can’t we take it out into the back yard, 
where it ’s light ? ” 

‘‘ Not to-day, you can’t. I ’m washing.” 

“ Well, perhaps we ’d better look for another 
cat,” said Annabel, wearily. There must be 
more then one black cat on earth.” And again 
they turned away, disappointed, for the hard- 
hearted candy-woman did not even attempt to 
call them back. 

“ Do you know of any one who has a black 
kitten old enough to purr ? ” asked Gideon of 
nearly every one they met as they journeyed 
wearily onward. 

Well, not a black one, exactly,” said a 
timid little woman in a dressmakers’ supply 
shop, but we ’ve got an old white one that ’s 
awful smart. He ’s got sore eyes and ain’t ex- 
pected to live. Won’t you take him for us. 
Miss ? ” 

It was hard to refuse this request, but, as 
Gideon said, That cat would n’t want you to 
take him looking like that. It ain’t fair to the 
cat.” 


28 


PURR-PUSS AND SPIT-CAT 


In the very next block they found a mother- 
cat sitting outside a cobbler's, with two half- 
grown kittens frisking around her ; and one of 
these kittens was black ! 

‘‘ May I, please — ” began Annabel again, 
and this time she found that they had come to 
the right place, for the cobbler and his wife 
beamed upon them in delight. 

“ Haf all you please. Haf me and my wife," 
he said with a bow ; “ and my shop." 

‘‘How kind you are!" said the exhausted 
artist. “ But we don’t want the whole shop — 
only the top of your sewing-machine to pose 
the cats on." 

The cobbler lifted the cover off the machine 
and took it out into the little court, where 
there was a great square of sunshine. Annabel 
knelt down patiently and focussed the machine- 
top, which was covered with a white cloth to 
make it look like a table, then said, “ Take 
Pandora out of the bag." 

Pandora was placed in front of the camera, 
and jumped down immediately. 

29 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


‘‘ Put her back/’ said Annabel. Gideon did 
so. 

Now bring the other cat. Does the black 
kitten purr?” she asked the cobbler’s wife. 

Ah, he purr ! He purr all day so sweet 
as one hand-organ,” exclaimed the woman, 
clasping her hands. 

But when the Purr- Puss saw Pandora he 
burst into a perfect cataract of spits, and pushed 
her off the table. Pandora hastened to conceal 
herself in a garbage-can, with her face buried 
in a necklace of potato peelings. 

And I leave it to you to decide,” she said 
that night to a friend on the roof, whether 
anybody else would n’t have done the same ! ” 
“ Ah, you bad-bad ! ” said the woman, cuff- 
ing the Purr-Puss, who became so frightened 
that he would not stay on the table at all. 

“ Oh, don’t punish him, please ! ” entreated 
Annabel. ‘‘He was afraid of my kitten because 
she is strange, but he ’ll get used to her. Do 
let me quiet him — there ! ” 

And under her soothing pats the black kitten 
30 


PURR-PUSS AND SPIT-CAT 


soon adopted the role that was expected of him, 
and began to purr. But by this time the spot 
of sunshine had moved, and the camera had to 
be focussed all over again. 

Now put them both on the table,” said 
Annabel. ‘‘ This is the place in the story where 
the Purr-Puss meets the Spit-Cat, and the Spit- 
Cat is rude.” But when Pandora was returned 
to the table, it was the brunette Purr-Puss who 
made all the cutting remarks. 

‘‘ Why won't Pandora spit ? ” said Annabel, 
in disgust. ‘‘ She spits all the time at home, 
and that's why I made the Spit-Cat in the 
story look like her.” 

“ Can't you change 'em 'round ? ” suggested 
Gideon. “ Or can't you have 'em both spit- 
cats ? That would be nice.” 

“ No, sir ! 1 can see by the gleam in your 

eye that you *d like a fight. But don’t let go 
of that black kitten's tail.” 

Give it some meat,” called a hollow voice 
from what seemed like the sky. And looking 
up Annabel saw heads peering out of every 

31 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


window in every apartment house that looked 
down on the court. They had evidently been 
watching her for some time, too absorbed in 
the strange performance to utter a sound. 

“ That is what ! ” said the cobbler's wife, joy- 
fully. ‘‘ Meat ! " and she pattered across the 
street to buy a cent's worth of liver, at sight 
of which the black kitten began to purr again. 

Of course the purr won't show in the 
picture," Gideon explained, ‘‘ but the happy 
expression will." 

‘‘ Now to make Pandora spit," said Annabel. 
But Pandora smelled the liver, and wanted 
some for herself, so she put up her tail and 
purred. 

Oh, dear, oh, dear ! " said Annabel, sitting 
down, utterly discouraged, on the garbage- 
can. 

‘‘ Me— ow," called a voice overhead. Me- 
ow. Take my picture! Smile up pretty! 
Fzt-fzt ! " The black kitten seized the liver 
and shot into the house. 

“ Would you mind not talking to the cats ?" 
32 


PURR-PUSS AND SPIT-CAT 


asked Annabel, sweetly, of the gallery gods. 
“ It frightens them, and we are all so tired.’* 

‘‘ Say, watcher want ’em to do ? ” asked a 
boy on the nearest fire-escape, as the cobbler’s 
wife returned, bearing the still-chewing Purr- 
Puss. 

‘‘ I want the Maltese one to spit,” said 
Annabel. The other one ’s all right now 

because his mouth is full.” 

‘‘ I ’ll fix it,” said the boy. “ You get ready.” 
And Annabel posed both cats again, with their 
tails pulled around nicely in front so that they 
showed. 

“Now!” she called, with the bulb in her 
hand. 

“ Hi, there, hi 1 Stst — Malty cat 1 ” called 
the boy, and looking up. Pandora saw a yellow 
dog standing on the fire-escape, wagging his 
tail in the most terrifying manner. 

“ Ha-ftz I Sp-ha 1 Ssss — I” she shrieked. 

The shutter snapped, the picture was taken, 
and Pandora, as Gideon expressed it, had “ spit 
herself way across the yard.” 

3 33 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Annabel thanked the boy, and put Pandora 
back in her bag, promising to send the cobbler 
and his wife one of the photographs that very 
week, provided it proved a success. But when 
the picture was developed there was not a trace 
of anything — not a cat, nor even a spit on the 
plate — for Annabel had forgotten to draw out 
the slide ! 


34 


TWO ADVENTURES 


CHAPTER FOUR 

TWO ADVENTURES 

yA NNABEL’S brother liked Pandora 
/ ^ almost as well as Annabel did, and 
/ ^ built houses for her out of the 

“ Times Saturday Book Review/* 
Give me ‘ Buster Brown ’ now,*’ he would 
say. ‘‘ I *11 make a bowknot for her tail.** 

“ You *re a perfect baby,** his sister would 
tell him, when their sides ached from laughing 
at the kitten’s antics. 

‘‘Well, I play with her sensibly, anyhow, 
like a private Zoo, and don’t get involved by 
calling her a ‘ Diddi Poot-Poot.* ** 

Annabel blushed, and afterwards whispered 
to Pandora that she was a “ Diddi Poot-Poot,” 
but that she must on no account let anybody 
know. 

One Pandora game was to see which of her 
owners could keep her the longest. Annabel 
35 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


would entice her across the floor with a faint 
mouse-scratching on a chair, but just as her 
eyes were blackening for the final spring, 
Brother would rattle a paper, and the mouse 



•'PARTICULARLY PLEASANT TO CHEW 


affair would be entirely off. Or when Brother 
had engaged her attention with a dangling shoe- 
lace, Annabel would bring out the toy rat, and 
the shoe-lace was instantly forgotten. 

This rat had started out in life as a canton- 
flannel rabbit, but thinking that Pandora would 
36 


TWO ADVENTURES 


be more captured by a rat, Annabel had cut 
off his ears, tucked in his stomach, and sewed 
on a long chenille tail. This was particularly 
pleasant to chew, as well as the boot-button 
eyes, which gleamed alluringly. 

But Pandora was so spoiled by all this 
attention that if they stopped playing with her 
for a second she would curl in her front paws 
and go foolishly to sleep. Or perhaps she only 
pretended to be asleep. At any rate, this habit 
of hers was the cause of much astonishment 
to Brother. 

“ Now, just suppose that I was playing tag,” 
he said, and for a few seconds nobody chased 
me. I *d lie down on the ground and say, 
‘ Precisely the time for a nap.* Perhaps I 
might be allowed to sleep as much as half a 
second before somebody fell over my legs or sat 
down on my head. But I *d have had my nap, 
and would feel refreshed for the whole day.** 

“ What nonsense ! ** Annabel laughed. 

Pandora is bored by us and wants to play 
with cats her own age.** 

37 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


So Pandora would be sent upstairs in the 
elevator to frolic with Robby, a rowdy little 
kitten who turned up on the roof from no one 
knew where, and went back afterwards to the 
same place. Miss Harry despised Robby for 
his lack of breeding, and Robby made faces 
at her in return, calling her ‘‘proudy,’* and 
other things of the same kind. But Robby 
and Pandora had fine times together, racing 
from one roof to another, until one day they 
crashed through a skylight straight onto the 
bed of a queer old man. They had seen this 
old man before, peering down at him through 
the glass, and admiring his two bare feet which 
stuck out from under the bedclothes, and al- 
most never moved. 

“ Don’t blow ’em out ! ” he would call, when 
any one opened the door. “ Look out for the 
draught ! ” And his daughter would beg him 
to cover his feet up ; but he would become very 
angry and ask, Do you want to put them out 
entirely ? Then who will light them again ? ” 
This puzzled the cats, until they heard the 
38 


TWO ADVENTURES 


girl explain to a visitor that the old man had 
been a lamplighter, and received a severe fall 
one night while replacing a broken globe. 
Since then he had thought that his feet were 
lamps, and that every gust of air was going to 
blow them out. 

When the kittens plunged through the sky- 
light the room was filled with broken glass, 
but when his daughter rushed in she found him 
sitting on the side of his bed, laughing, with a 
kitten in each hand, while the two white lamps 
rested forgotten on the floor. 

“ I feel lots better to-day, Maggie,” he said. 

I guess I 'll have to go down street a few 
blocks and fix that broken lamp. This falling 
glass reminded me of it.” 

And although he had been in bed for two 
months, he dressed himself easily, and was able 
to go about his work. 

‘‘ That 's not an uncommon case,” the doctor 
told Maggie. “ Another shock, something like 
the first one, will often cure a person of a queer 
fancy. A man's mind is a funny thing. But 
39 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


what did you do with those cats ? Got *em 
yet?’* 

“ No, we did n’t know who they belonged 
to, so I tied a basket to a broom-handle and 
dumped them out on the roof again. It seemed 
to satisfy them, for they went capering off in 
high spirits.” 

“ Proud of the good their wickedness had 
done,” laughed the doctor. “ Well, I ’ll remem- 
ber that prescription. If a person thinks he ’s 
sick, throw two cats at him through a skylight, 
and see if he won’t forget his troubles for a 
time at least.” 

Bachelor and Miss Harry were quite pale 
with excitement when the two bad kittens 
returned. Pandora limping slightly from a cut 
on her paw. 

‘‘ Oh, you poor li’l thing ! ” exclaimed Miss 
Harry, quite forgetting that she and Pandora 
were not on speaking terms. And she licked 
the paw until it felt well again, for under all 
her airs Miss Harry carried a tender Southern 
heart. 


40 


TWO ADVENTURES 


“ It puzzled me extremely,” said Bachelor, 
“ to see you vanish so suddenly, and after a 
few moments reappear. The effect was quite 
surprising.” 

‘‘ It is a wonder that we ever got back at all,” 
said Pandora, flirting her tail. “ How would 
you have felt if you had never seen us 
again ? ” 

‘‘ Most depressed,” said Bachelor, solemnly. 
“ Most depressed.” 

After this Miss Harry treated Pandora with 
more respect, and told her all the gossip of roof 
and fence. She said that Bachelors whiskers 
were considered the finest in the neighborhood, 
but — and here her voice dropped — his tail 
was false I 

“ False I ” exclaimed Pandora in horror. 
‘‘ Why, he switches it as well as I do mine.” 

“ Yes, but have n’t you noticed that he can’t 
bend it at all at the small end ? He lost his 
tail in such a sad accident two years ago, and 
Mademoiselle had this one made for him. It 
matches the sample that was left so well that 

41 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


you ’d never guess the truth if you did n’t 
know.” 

‘‘ I wondered that it did n’t swell when he 
was frightened,” said Pandora, ‘‘ but I thought 
it was because he had so much self-control.” 

Just then there was a step on the roof, and 
Gideon came up to feed his rabbit. Hominy’s 
bill of fare was making large holes in Gideon’s 
pocket money, for five cents a week does not 
go far in cabbages, and Gideon had not yet 
learned that bunnies can eat the same things 
that the family does, and enjoy them. 

Here ’s some oats and celery tops, old 
fellow,” he said ; and Hominy ate them up so 
quickly that one could scarcely believe they 
had been there ; then backed off looking sulky, 
for he still felt hollow. 

“ Come on below, skipper,” said Gideon, 
seizing his pink ears. “Your aunt’s gone to 
Committee meeting.” 

Hominy grunted unwillingly, and planted a 
brown hind foot on Gideon’s mouth, his nose 
wriggling in fierce jerks. 

42 


TWO ADVENTURES 


‘‘ Now run and stretch your temper/’ said 
Gideon, putting him down in the parlor; and 
Hominy made straight for the fireplace, wiping 
up considerable soot on his white legs. Then 
he hopped up on a pale-blue sofa cushion, with 
the picture of a lady on it, and wiped the soot 
off on her nose. 

Hold on ! This won’t do at all. You 
must come into the kitchen,” said Gideon. And 
they were having a fine romp among the pots 
and pans, when suddenly the rabbit disappeared. 

“ Oh, you rascal ! where have you gone ? ” 
Gideon exclaimed, diving under the sink and 
behind the stove. But Hominy was nowhere 
to be found, and in the midst of the search 
Aunt Pen returned. 

“ Why are n’t you studying ? ” she asked 
severely. “ I never saw such a boy for wasting 
his opportunities ! ” 

‘‘I — have n’t been wasting ’em,” said Gid- 
eon, thinking of his frolic with Hominy, and 
fearful lest a white form should come hopping 
through the door. 


43 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ Well, go study your grammar now, while I 
get supper/’ And Gideon went to his room, 
wondering what would happen when Hominy 
turned up. But Hominy did not turn up, and 
supper was eaten without excitement. 

“Now I can hunt a little while she ’s knitting 
in the parlor,” Gideon thought; but when 
Aunt Pen heard him in the kitchen she called, 
“ Gideon, come out of there this minute, you ’re 
after the doughnuts ! ” and kept a sharp eye 
on him during the rest of the evening. 

But soon after Gideon was in bed he heard 
a cry of angry surprise, and his aunt came into 
the room. 

“ Gideon,” she said grimly, “ when I went 
out to put the milk in the ice-box the door 
was open, and there was a white rabbit settin’ 
up outside, eatin’ macaroni by the yard out of 
that dish left from dinner. Gideon, this is your 
doing, and after all I *ve sacrificed for you ! ” 

“Oh, perhaps it’s a mistake,” pleaded 
Gideon. “ Perhaps you ’ve had another 
nightmare.” 


44 


TWO ADVENTURES 


For one evening Aunt Pen had sprung 
terrified from her bed, calling out that a rooster 
was riding a camel around her bureau. And 
it turned out that it was only the result of 
griddle-cakes and maple syrup that she had 
eaten for supper. But Gideon could not un- 
derstand why she had been so alarmed, and 
wished that he might have nice circus dreams 
like that, instead of stupid ones about being 
late for school, and going out to walk without 
his clothes on. 

“ I guess you must have dreamed that rab- 
bit,** he said, following her into the kitchen. 
“ Why yes. Aunt Pen, you see there is n*t any 
rabbit here.** 

And there wasn*t; for Hominy had once 
more disappeared, and they searched for him 
half an hour in vain. 

“ Well, Gideon,** said his aunt, looking mor- 
tified, ‘‘ I ask your pardon for having broken 
you of your rest like this. It must have been 
the doughnuts that I ate for supper. You can 
have all the rest of *em to take to school 
to-morrow.** 


45 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


She went meekly to bed, and early the next 
morning Gideon found Hominy inside an old 
wash-boiler behind the stove. He was hustled 
back to his box and did not leave it again im- 
mediately, for when Aunt Pen started to warm 
up the macaroni for dinner, she said : 

‘‘ Gideon, it is n't in human nature that I 
could have dreamed away three quarters of a 
dishful. I guess you 'd better go to bed, sir, 
and spend the afternoon." 


46 


THE BATTLES OF BACHELOR 


CHAPTER FIVE 

THE BATTLES OF BACHELOR 

O NE night Pandora was awakened by 
hearing Bachelor howling insults 
from the fire-escape, and two street- 
cats answering him in language quite 
unfit to repeat. 

‘‘ Oh, you *re a mamma’s boy ! ” moaned 
the drab-white cat with the tattered ears. 

‘‘You’re a cowardly swell,” wailed the 
bleached Maltese. “ Come down and fight it 
out in the ash-barrel. Come down. Come 
d-o-w-n ! ” 

Pandora ran out on her own fire-escape to 
hear the rest of their conversation, and narrowly 
escaped being knocked off by a shoe flung 
from an upper window. 

“ Not I,” groaned Bachelor, in a choking 
voice. “You have neither the manners nor 
the speech of a gentleman.” 

47 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 



Splash ! came some water from the first-floor 
apartment, but it did not hit either the drab- 
white cat or the bleached Maltese. It went, in- 
stead, into the shoe thrown by Gideon’s aunt. 

“ Fr-aid cat ! ” jeered the drab-white robber 
at Bachelor. 


48 


THE BATTLES OF BACHELOR 


‘‘ Old — bumble bee ! ” called Bachelor, who, 
being well bred, could not think of anything 
worse to say. 

But the ash-barrel cat seemed to understand 
all the thoughts that the other failed to express, 
and with a mighty howl he took a reckless 
leap from a clothes-post to Bachelor’s side. 
There was a fearful scrimmage, a cloud of fly- 
ing hair, and Bachelor’s false tail fell through 
the fire escape to the court below. 

“ Whipped I ” called the bleached Maltese 
from the fence. 

“ Help ! thieves ! ” cried the poor French 
lady, as Bachelor, pursued by the drab-white 
cat, thundered through her halls. 

“ Oh, mother ! come to your boy ! ” called 
the cowardly Bachelor, as the drab-white treed 
him on the mantelpiece. 

“ Mamma ’s coming ! ” answered Mademoi- 
selle, stumbling around after her cane; but 
she tripped over something and fell back among 
the bedclothes, becoming so tangled up in them 
that she could not move. 


4 


49 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


‘‘ Oh, mother,” wailed Bachelor again, who 
had retreated to the top of the clock, a small, 
slippery affair with a silly face. ‘‘ One — two 
— three — four — five — six,” struck the clock, 
and the robber cat shook in his fur, for he had 
never heard such a sound before. 

‘‘ What did you say ? ” he faltered, thinking 
that some new and terrible cat had broken into 
the room. 

“ Seven — eight — nine — ten — eleven — 
twelve,” replied the clock decidedly. 

Oh, by all means,” said the drab-white cat, 
meekly. Sorry to have disturbed you, sir.” 
And he went out again as fast as he had come. 

Meanwhile Janie, the maid, had been roused 
by Mademoiselle’s cries, and, having unbraided 
her from the bedclothes, they went in to com- 
fort Bachelor, who was still balanced upon the 
clock. 

“ You Ve no idea how hard it is to balance 
one’s self without a tail,” he told Pandora in the 
morning. ‘^Take care never to mislay yours. 
If you do you will regret it.” 

50 


THE BATTLES OF BACHELOR 


“ But how did you get it back ? ** Pandora 
asked. 

‘‘ Oh, mamma made Janie go down the fire- 
escape and pick it up. She was just in time, 
for one of my enemies was about to carry it 
off.’’ 

Just then Gideon went upstairs carrying his 
aunt’s shoe, which he held very carefully so as 
not to spill the water that was in it. But she 
did not thank him for his pains ; she said, 
‘‘ You ought to have had sense enough to pour 
that water out.” 

Why, Aunt Pen, I thought this was a proof 
of how well the shoe was made, and that you ’d 
be glad to know how much water it would 
hold.” 

I wish somebody ’d shoot that old cat 
of Mademoiselle’s,” said Gideon’s aunt, and 
Bachelor immediately retired into his own apart- 
ment, leaving Pandora to look in vain for his 
smile. But a minute later there was a shriek 
from Janie, followed by cries of ‘‘ Bring the cat, 
quick, ma’am ! There ’s a rat in the kitchen ! ” 

51 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ Janie, you know that Bachelor is com- 
pletely unnerved after last night. You must 
go borrow a cat from some one else. Get Miss 
Van Camp’s. Gideon says she has one.” And 
Janie flew upstairs to ask for Pandora, who was 
obligingly handed out to her by Elga, Annabel 
not being at home to interfere. 

“Oh, that kitten’s too small; just hear it 
cry ! ” laughed Janie, and carried Pandora down- 
stairs as a joke. But unfortunately Made- 
moiselle did not view her in that light. 

“ She ’s petite — small — but sharp,” she said. 
“ We will set her at our monster.” And to 
Janie’s horror she put the kitten under the 
sink, where the rat had gone, and shut the 
door. 

Pandora had never caught even so much as 
a mouse, but not wishing to seem cowardly, she 
swelled out her little tail, and walked boldly 
over to a corner where two beads of fire 
gleamed at her from the darkness. She after- 
wards learned that this is not the proper way at 
all. One should sit quietly beside a hole until 

52 


THE BATTLES OF BACHELOR 


somebody comes out, then pounce. But of 
course she was too young to know. The balls 
of fire did not move, so she spit first at one 
and then at the other, not realizing that these 
fiery eyes both belonged to the same rat, and 
that one spit would have done for the two. 

But the second spit brought the rat out of 
his corner, and suddenly Pandora found herself 
upsidedown in the stove polish with a smart- 
ing nose, for the rat had jumped over her, 
giving a nip as he passed. 

‘‘ Ow ! she cried in grief, and Janie opened 
the sink door indignantly, snatching the kitten 
up and exlaiming, “ What will Miss Van Camp 
say ! 

She wiped the stove polish tenderly from 
Pandora’s whiskers, and put a bit of sticking- 
plaster on her nose. 

“You’re a spunky little creature, just the 
same, and would have killed that rat if you ’d 
been a month older.” 

“ I am in despair ! ” wailed Mademoiselle, 
clasping her hands. “ The monster still lives.” 
53 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ I *11 call the boys/* said Janie, as Gideon and 
Weasels came clattering downstairs; and they 
followed her to the kitchen in delight, for both 
Weasels* dogs had accompanied their master, 
and were whining in the hall outside. 

“ Those are the fellows for a job like this,** 
said Weasels. ‘‘ Come, Blarney, come, Con- 
rad!** and an Irish terrier capered into the room, 
followed by a dachshund, whose tail naturally 
arrived some time after his nose. 

Sic *im 1 Sic *im 1 ** cried Weasels, point- 
ing to the sink, but the dogs thought that 
he was referring to Pandora, and, not seeing 
anything else to ‘‘ sic,** made a dash at her. 

Pandora scrambled hastily up Mademoiselle*s 
back to her head, hanging on desperately, while 
Mademoiselle clutched at the tail of this strange 
new wig and screamed. The dogs planted 
themselves at her feet as if she had been a tree, 
and waited for Pandora to come down. 

Stand still, ma*am. I *11 take her off, ** 
said Janie, going to the rescue, while Gideon 
strangled his laughter with remarks of, “ Oh, 
54 


THE BATTLES OF BACHELOR 


Jiminy ! “ Oh, turnips 1 ” But Weasels was 

mortified. 

Ei-yi 1 ** cried Blarney, springing up with 
his yellow bangs falling into his eyes, for he 
had been soundly cuffed. 

How-ow ! ” echoed Conrad for the same 
reason. 

‘‘ Well then, why don’t you go and hunt 
that rat ? Do you think I ’m a fool one-horse 
old cat chaser ? ” 

This was said with such scorn that both dogs 
immediately shot under the sink, and Conrad 
became stuck between a pipe and the wall, 
yelping mournfully. 

‘‘ Come out of there ! ” shouted Weasels, 
seizing him by the hind legs ; but this did no 
good, and Gideon said, ‘‘ Oh, even if you do 
start that end, it will be night before you reach 
the other.” For he always jeered at Conrad’s 
sofa-shaped figure. 

Blarney ’s getting him. Hi on. Blarney ! ” 
cried Weasels, as there was a great rattle of 
pans. But on hearing his name Blarney came 
55 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


out again with many wags, and seemed to 
consider the matter settled. 

‘‘I'll go under myself,” said Weasels, in 
disgust; and presently there came a snort of 
rage as he called out, “ There *s a broken place 
in the floor. He 's got under that.” 

“ Oh, where ^ Let me see too ! ” 

“ You can't see anything but his eyes. Oh, 
get oflF a fellow's legs, can't you ? '' And 
Weasels came out with stove polish beautifully 
distributed over his nose and chin. 

“We 'll have to drown him out,'' said Gid- 
eon. “ May I have this tea-kettle, Janie?” 

A large amount of water was poured into 
the hole. But nobody came out from under 
the sink except Conrad, who, having had his 
toes scalded, made a great effort, and freed 
himself from the pipe with a terrible yelp. 

“ What does this mean ? ” called an angry 
voice in the hall, and they heard one of the 
first-floor tenants scolding the janitor in loud 
tones. “ I give notice from to-day,” she 
said. “A pipe has burst in the second-floor 
56 


THE BATTLES OF BACHELOR 


flat, and the water is coming down into our 
kitchen/’ 

“ Oh, del I ” exclaimed Mademoiselle, rush- 
ing to the door. “ Madame, that was one little 
mistake. It was no pipe. It was a rat.” 

“ A rat ? What nonsense ! ” said the woman. 
‘‘ How could a rat be coming down through the 
ceiling? ” 

But at this moment the rat did escape from 
his hole under the sink, and made a dash 
through the flat, straight for the two women. 
They parted in terror, and the rat hurried down- 
stairs without waiting for the elevator, disap- 
pearing through the open door of the first-floor 
apartment. 

‘‘ Angels have mercy ! ” cried the woman 
who had made the complaint. “What am I 
to do ? ” and she started down after her un- 
welcome guest, but Weasels* dogs, who were 
following close behind, ran into her and left 
her unexpectedly sitting on the steps. 

The rat concealed himself in her kitchen, and, 
in the excitement of trying to get him out, she 
57 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


quite forgot about the water dripping from her 
ceiling, and that she was going to give notice. 

“ Who hurt your blessed little nose? asked 
Gideon, as he took Pandora home. But the 
kitten could not explain, and Annabel never 
found out how that decoration of court-plaster 
had come into the family. 

There was a howl from below, and the rat 
jumped from the fire-escape to the court, leav- 
ing Conrad and Blarney yelping in vain pursuit. 

‘‘ He won’t come back here again, though,” 
said Gideon, triumphantly . ‘‘ There ’s too 

much doing in this flat.” 

“ Do you know why that rat never came 
back ? ” asked Bachelor of Pandora, a few 
weeks later. “ It ’s because he was frightened 
at the sight of me^ 


58 


IN A COAT-POCKET 


CHAPTER SIX 

IN A COAT-POCKET 

‘‘ "W "TELL, if you think I *m such a 
^ /m / conceited fool as that, I suppose 
W W you won’t be sorry to have me 
go,” said young West, standing 

near the door. 

“ Not if you are silly enough to take offence 
at something I never meant,” said Annabel, 
indignantly. 

‘‘ Don’t you think I am conceited ? ” 

‘‘ I never said so.” 

The young man turned away, and putting 
on his hat and coat left the apartment without 
another word. 

Oh, very well,” said Annabel to herself, 
pretending that she did not care. 

‘‘ H’mph ; serves her right ! ” grumbled the 
young man, striding down Central Park West. 
59 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


But suddenly he stopped short and exclaimed, 
“ By Jove ! what 's this in my pocket ? ** 



IN A COAT-POCKET 


‘‘ E-u,” answered Pandora, rubbing her nose 
against his fingers. 

‘‘ Crawled in and went to sleep while we were 
scrapping, by all that *s inconvenient ! ** he 
6o 


IN A COAT-POCKET 


thought. “ But I won’t return her now. No! 
Annabel shall write first and apologize for not 
saying that I was not conceited. Pandora has 
planned a noble revenge.” 

She had indeed, but West did not realize 
yet on whom it would prove to be. 

Oh, Mr. West 1 ” called a girl’s voice from 
a hansom which had drawn up at the curb. 
‘‘ Won’t you come home to dinner with me 
to-night ? The card party for Thursday is off, 
and I have lots to say to you.” 

“ I shall be delighted. Miss Dillam,” he 
began ; then, remembering Pandora, added, 
“ if I may take a few minutes to run home and 
dress.” 

Oh, not for the world,” she said. ‘‘ You 
are all right as you are. It ’s quite informal, 
you know, — nobody honored with an invita- 
tion but yourself. Do jump in.” 

So West reluctantly complied, arranging his 
coat very carefully, in order that Pandora might 
not be sat upon. 

But the gaiety died out of the girl’s voice as 

6i 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


she turned to him, saying, ‘‘ Did you know 
that Grandma is very much worse? It’s on 
her account that the party was given up.” 

‘‘ Indeed? I am sincerely sorry to hear it. 
Oh, thunder ! ” 

The girl looked at him in pained surprise, 
but he did not feel like explaining at such a 
moment that he had a kitten in his pocket, 
who had just then driven her claws into his leg. 

“ Yes, we fear that nothing can be done.” 

E-ow ! ” said Pandora, and Miss Dillam 
jumped. “ What was that? ” she asked. 

“ Oh, only some noise in the street. Surely 
Mrs. Dillam will rally again. She has had 
these attacks before, has n’t she ? ” 

“ Oh, yes, but not so bad. Why, only the 
other night she said — Mr. West, what is the 
matter ? ” 

‘‘Oh, no, she didn’t!” said West with a 
smile. “ I think I sat on a pin, that ’s all. 
Go on.” 

“ She said very softly, ‘ Nellie, I hear a 
mouse.’ ” 

62 


IN A COAT-POCKET 


‘‘ Dear me/* said West. ‘‘ Did she indeed ? ** 
“ Yes, and what makes it so bad is that there 
was no mouse in the room.** 

“ I should think it would have been much 
worse if there had been.** 

No, because it simply proves that Grandma 
is growing to imagine things that are n*t so.’* 
“ E-ow ! ** said Pandora, who was becoming 
talkative at the mention of mice. 

‘‘ Mr. West, there must be a cat in this 
carriage ! and I hate cats. Let *s get out and 
walk.** 

‘‘Do you think it*s right to condemn 
Grandma for hearing mice, when you hear 
things that are so much more unlikely ? ** asked 
West. “ How can there possibly be a cat in 
the carriage ? There *s no room under the 
seat.** 

“ No, but I *ve heard it cry twice.** 

“ How strange 1 But perhaps it goes in your 
family to think you hear things. Still, you 
look perfectly well, so I would n’t let it worry 
me. You will doubtless get over it.” 

63 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ I don’t think it *s quite kind in you to joke 
about Grandma’s illness,” said Miss Dillam, 
coldly ; and West groaned inwardly, knowing 
what a brute he must seem. Still, if she hated 
cats ! 

“ Here *s a florist,” he exclaimed, joyfully 
grasping at an idea. ‘‘ Would you mind 
stopping while I get some flowers for Mrs. 
Dillam ? ” 

The girl relented visibly and said : “ Why, 
how lovely of you to think of it ! I ’ll come 
and help you choose them.” 

‘‘Oh, no — really — I want them as a sur- 
prise for you too,” he finished lamely. And 
she leaned back in the hansom well pleased. 

“ Here, put a nice bunch of violets in a 
basket with this cat,” he said to the astonished 
florist, “ and send them to Miss Van Camp, 

No. 3 West Ninety Street. Give me a 

blank card, please.” And he scribbled hastily, 
“ Returned to you in hopes of finding you in a 
gentler mood.” 

“Now I want some old-fashioned garden 
64 


IN A COAT-POCKET 


flowers — anything pretty. Oh, haven’t you 
any in ? ” 

We are expecting some asters at six o’clock, 
sir. Would those suit you ? I can send them 
immediately.” 

“Oh, I suppose so. Another card, please,” 
and he wrote his name, adding, “ Trusting that 
you will make a speedy recovery,” and gave 
Mrs. Dillam’s address. Then he hurried back 
to the cab, so overjoyed at having parted with 
that terrible kitten that he quite forgot his 
recent intention of surprising Miss Dillam. 

The surprise came, however, soon after 
dinner, and it was a surprise for himself as 
well. 

“ Nellie, what do you think has happened ? ” 
asked Miss Dillam’s aunt, coming into the room 
in a high state of indignation. “ Some disgust- 
ing joker has just sent mother a cat in a basket 
with a most unkind message about hoping to find 
her in a better humor. Poor mother was wild, 
because she hates cats — this person must have 
known it — And the cruelty of saying that 
S 65 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


he had returned it in the hope of finding her in 
a gentler mood ! ” 

West felt his face growing crimson, but 
managed to ask: ^‘Was there nothing else in 
the basket ? ” 

“ Oh, nothing but the remains of some 
flowers that the cat had chewed to pieces. It 
was kicking them when I put it out into the 
yard. It seems like a very fierce cat.'* 

“Put it out — oh, by Jove!" exclaimed 
West, in despair. “ Would you mind if I went 
out and brought it in ? I have a friend who 's 
in desperate need of a cat." 

“ Why, certainly not, if you want the crea- 
ture,"said the elder Miss Dillam, disapprovingly. 
And West admitted with shame that he did. 

“ If I don't wring that florist's neck ! " he 
muttered, as an obliging butler conducted him 
through the lower regions of the house to the 
court behind. But when he reached it he 
found an overturned basket, containing only 
the chewed remains of some violets, while 
Pandora was nowhere to be seen. 

66 


IN A COAT-POCKET 


“Well, I am up against it now,” he thought, 
“ with both of those girls. But what has 
become of that wretched cat ? ” 

He called her alluringly for several minutes, 
but his tones were not sweet, and Pandora, 
listening from her cosey retreat in the garbage- 
can, distrusted him. 

“ Not I,” she thought. “ I prefer not to 
confide my person again to a man who rides in 
cabs, and puts me down in shops on a floral 
cross made of wet tuberoses. Why, my paws 
aren't dry yet.” 

So West returned to the house and found 
his young friend still resentful toward the 
person who had arranged the insulting jest. 

“ Poor Grandma is always so patient and 
good,” she said. “ I can't understand why 
the man who sent the cat should have hoped 
to find her in a gentler mood.” 

“ Are you sure it was a man ? ” asked West, 
with a feeble smile. 

“ Well, it could n't have been a gentle- 
man ^ 


67 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ Has n’t it occurred to you that the bas- 
ket might have been intended for some one 
else?” 

I don’t see why. The address was all 
right.” 

“ Miss Dillam,” said the young man reck- 
lessly, “ I can’t bear to have your grandmother 
made uncomfortable, so I ’m going to make a 
clean breast of all the traps and disasters that 
this depraved cat has led me into to-night. It 
belongs to Miss Van Camp, and crept into my 
coat-pocket while I was calling there. I didn’t 
discover it until just before I met you, and 
then--” 

“ So it was a cat that I heard in the car- 
riage,” said Miss Dillam, coldly. I can 
believe almost anything of you now.” 

‘‘ But how could I help it ? ” protested the 
poor man. “ You said you hated cats, so I 
got rid of it as soon as I could without letting 
you know. The only trouble was that the 
florist mixed up the addresses and sent the 
wrong package here.” 


68 


IN A COAT-POCKET 


“ I see/* said the girl, after a chilly silence. 
“ I will go up and explain to Grandma.** 

“ And please take her all sorts of apologies/* 
said West, eagerly. Of course she knows me 
well enough to understand that it was a mis- 
take. But I think I *11 say good-night now. 
Miss Dillam. I must explain to Miss Van 
Camp too, or she *11 be scouring the city 
hospitals after Pandora.** 

‘‘And I suppose you consider that absurd 
kitten more important than all poor Grandma*s 
state of mind/* said Miss Dillam, unfeelingly. 
“ Good-night, Mr. West.** 

And the dismayed youth took his departure, 
having previously interviewed the butler and 
offered him all kinds of rewards if Pandora 
were found. 

“ I *11 keep my heye hout, sir/* he promised, 
and West strode up the Avenue, thinking, 
“ How I do hate people without a sense of 
humor! Annabel has that, even if she does 
think I *m conceited. Well, I suppose she 
won*t speak to me after this.** And as the 
69 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


interview did not promise to be a pleasant one, 
he decided to walk in order to gain time. 
“ How shall I break it to her I ” he thought 
when he rang the bell. 

“ Come right in, West,” said Elga, cordially. 

Van Camp *s there.” And she ushered him 
into the parlor where Annabel sat reading, with 
a large cluster of old-fashioned asters on the 
table beside her. 

“Well, how did you like — ” began West 
but stopped short, unable to utter another 
word, for there on Annabel’s knee sat Pandora, 
purring, and small as life. 

“ Have I been asleep this whole evening ? ” 
he exclaimed, “ or — or worse ? Annabel, 
would you mind telling me where you got that 
cat?” 

“ She was given me by a German friend 
two weeks ago.” 

“ Oh, but you know what I mean. When 
did she come back to-night ? ” 

“ Come back 1 Why, has she been away ? ” 
asked Annabel, with dancing eyes. “ I never 
70 


IN A COAT-POCKET 


allow her to go out alone after dark. She’s 
too young.” 

“ Oh, well, you have it in for me now, I 
suppose,” said the young man, sitting down ; 
‘‘ and it serves me right for going off in such 
a huff this afternoon.” 

“ Oh, now that you *re good, I *11 tell you 
that Nellie Dillam sent Pandora back to me five 
minutes ago, with a note asking me not to tell 
you that she ’d been found. Pandora trotted 
into their kitchen soon after you left. But 
Nellie didn’t want you to know, because she 
said that when they first told you about 
Grandma’s present you didn’t look sorry at 
all ; you looked amused.” 

Here they both broke into a laugh that 
carried away the last trace of their little quarrel 
that afternoon. 

“ What did you think when the asters 
came ? ” he asked. And Annabel blushed, but 
did not tell him how angry she had been at his 
card saying that he hoped she would make a 
speedy recovery. 

71 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“That’s a rude way of implying that he 
wants me to forget him,” she had thought. 
“ And these asters are the sort of flowers that 
a very old lady would enjoy. He is the most 
unpleasant man alive, and I have forgotten 
him. I don’t even remember having met such 
a person.” But what she said was, “ I ’m 
sorry that I was n’t a little pleasanter to you 
this afternoon,” and offered him Pandora’s 
paw to shake. 


72 


A PINK TEA 


CHAPTER SEVEN 

A PINK TEA 

O NE morning Annabel found Gideon 
sitting on the steps outside her door, 
plunged in gloom. 

‘‘ Why, what*s the matter? ” she 

asked. 

‘‘ Aunt Pen *s found out about Hominy. She 
says I Ve got to sell him.** 

Sell him ! Why, did n*t she know he was 
yours that night when he hid in the wash- 
boiler ? ** 

‘‘ No, she thought it was a borrowed rabbit. 
You know she often sees me going up to the 
roof with other fellows and their animals.** 

“ But why does she object to your keeping 
him if he does n*t come downstairs ? ** 

“ She said I deceived her about it. But I 
did n*t. She never asked me if I had a rabbit, 
73 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


and I never mentioned it because she hates 
animals. I wish you *d speak to her, Miss 
Annabel. P*Faps you could, make her change 
her mind.” 

I will,” she said ; although it is none of 
my business, and will probably do more harm 
than good.” 

She ran upstairs and was fortunate enough 
to meet Mrs. Moles just as she was starting 
for market. 

‘‘ Good morning,” said Annabel, pleasantly. 

‘‘ I can*t say that I think so,” was the tart 
reply ; and indeed it did look very much like 
rain. 

‘‘ I came to speak to you about Gideon,” 
began Annabel ; and immediately Mrs. Moles 
bristled. 

“ What mischief's he been up to now? ” 

“ Oh, no mischief at all. He seems like a 
very good child. There 's nothing like owning 
a pet to keep a boy out of mischief.” 

“ I should say it led him into the worst. 
Why, that rabbit of Gideon's ate up a whole 
74 


A PINK TEA 


plate of good macaroni on me, with tomatoes 
in it, too.** 

“ But he does n’t really need that sort of 
food, you know. Almost anything else would 
do.” 

“ Well, I don’t choose to have Gideon 
wasting his time on such trifles as rabbits. I 
did n’t adopt him for any such purpose, and 
I ’ll thank you to excuse me now. Miss, as I ’m 
in a hurry.” 

But what ’s the use of making him un- 
happy ? ” asked Annabel, indignantly. ‘‘ Harm- 
less enjoyment can’t possibly be bad for any 
child. He needs it.” 

‘‘ Please let me pass, young lady. When 
you ’ve brought up a large family of your own 
it will be time enough for you to give advice 
to others.” And she walked stiffly downstairs, 
nearly tumbling over Gideon, who was curled 
up against the banisters. 

You go get that rabbit of yours and sell 
him,” she said, “or I’ll sell him myself — 
to the butcher.” 


75 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


‘‘ Gid-e~on ! called Annabel, softly, as she 
heard a stifled sob from below. 

He came up slowly and found Annabel’s 
eyes shining with a new idea. She opened 
her purse and took out a bright half-dollar, 
saying, “ I want to buy a rabbit, Gideon. I Ve 
wanted one for a long time. And I shall 
need some one to help take care of him for 
me.” 

Gideon’s face cleared. ‘‘ But that will be just 
the same as if he was mine.” 

“Just the same — except that if he’s my 
rabbit no one can take him away from us.” 

“ Oh, you ’re the best girl in the world ! ” 
said Gideon, giving her a big hug. “ I wish you 
were my mother. *T would be so jolly to have 
one my own age.” 

“ Don’t you think I ’m more than eleven ? ” 
asked Annabel, laughing. 

“ You ’re just as nice as if you were n’t.” 

“ And oh, Gideon — ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ I ’ll have Elga save some scraps for him 


A PINK TEA 


every day. Don’t you want to bring him 
down now, and see what Pandora says to her 
new brother ? ” 

‘‘ She *s seen him before, ” said Gideon, 
racing joyfully upstairs. ‘‘ She does n’t care 
for him much.” 

‘‘ I ’ll tell you what we ’ll do,” said Anna- 
bel, when Gideon reappeared. “ I think that 
all the other animals would like Pandora better 
if she gave a party, don’t you ? ” 

“ Well, I just guess 1 ” said Gideon, holding 
Hominy’s ears up to the light, to admire the 
red embroidery of veins, which were his especial 
pride. 

“ I ’ll ask Pandora to write the invita- 
tions to-morrow. And next Saturday after- 
noon — ” 

“ What ? ” asked Gideon breathlessly. 

‘‘ You ’ll see. I ’m going to invite Weasels 
to bring his cat instead of the dogs. He told 
me he had one.” 

On the following day the invitations were 
sent : 


77 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Miss Pandora Van Camp 
AT HOME 

FROM THREE TO FIVE 

Saturday, October Twenty-ninth 


And promptly as the hour struck, Gideon 
presented himself, carrying Bachelor, whose 
mother had said that he might come. 

Hominy was already there, adorned with a 
huge bow of bright ear-pink, and Pandora 
wore a paper ruff of the same shade, to say 
nothing of a pink nose which exactly matched. 
The table held a cluster of pink carnations, and 
Annabel herself had on a pink gown, trimmed 
with soft white lace. 

This is to be a pink tea,** she explained, 
coming forward to shake hands with Bachelor 
and Gideon, ‘‘ because all debutantes begin 
with a pink tea, and this is Pandoras coming 
out party.** 

“ Does n*t Bachelor look nice, too ? ** asked 
78 


A PINK TEA 


Gideon, bashfully ; and Annabel saw that the 
cat wore one of Gideon’s own neckties — a red 
one with blue polka dots, which was usually 
kept for Sunday school. 

‘‘ He looks lovely ! ” she said warmly. 
“ Those dots help to bring out his tabby 
stripes. It’s perfect.” 

‘‘ Yes, if he ’d been a dotted cat I should 
have put on a striped ribbon, ’cause when a 
cat ’s dressed up he likes to have it show.” 

Just then Constantia, the little Southern 
neighbor, arrived with Miss Harry, who was, 
as the French writers say, ‘‘ delicious,” in a 
wreath of artificial corn flowers. Constantia 
herself wore white with a corn-flower blue 
sash, so the effect of the two guests was 
charming. 

Here comes Weasels ! ” called Gideon, 
looking out of the window. ‘‘ He ’s got on 
his best pants.” 

Weasels came in, holding under one arm a 
cat whom Pandora recognized in delight, for it 
was no other than her old friend Robby. 

79 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“I didn’t know you were Weasels* cat,” 
she said, running to meet him. “ Come, let *s 
get the flannel rat.” But Robby was too shy 
to play, and fidgeted under the haughty 
glances of Miss Harry. I did n’t know you 
were going to dress,” he said uneasily. Do 
I look very bad ? ” 

But Pandora comforted him by saying that 
as far as she was concerned he was always the 
handsomest cat in the room. 

“Now we’re all here but Eunice and 
Kenneth,” said Annabel ; “ and I think they 
must be coming now. I hear the elevator. 
Yes, there ’s the bell.” 

“Who are they?” asked Gideon, in a 
whisper. 

“ Two dear little friends of mine from 
Montrose. They ’re going to bring their 
tortoise-shell cat, Weejums.” 

In a minute a little girl with yellow curls 
came in, followed by a big and a little boy, 
carrying a basket. 

“ Oh, I say, Annabel ! ” the big boy ex- 
80 


A PINK TEA 


claimed. “ This is just the sort of thing that 
mother gets up. Are n’t you great ! ” 

“ ‘ The kind that mother used to make/ ” 
quoted Annabel, laughing. “ It was good in 
you to come, Franklin.” 

“ Somebody had to bring the kids,” he said, 
not liking to admit that nothing would have 
induced him to stay away. 

“ Weejums was car-sick, I think,” said 
Eunice, with concern. “ She stopped purring 
after we left Newark.” 

‘‘Oh, Miss Annabel, whose rabbit? ” asked 
the small boy, making straight for Hominy. 
“ Where did you get that rabbit. Miss 
Annabel ? ” 

“ Kenny, you must n’t ; you must speak to 
the party first,” said Eunice, and Kenneth 
turned around with Hominy pressed to his 
bosom, saying, “ How de do, party ? ” 

“He knows better, truly,” said Eunice to 
Gideon, who had not taken his eyes from her 
curls. Only rabbits make him forget.” 

“ That used to be my rabbit once,” said 

6 8i 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Gideon, mournfully. ‘‘It’s easy to forget all 
your troubles — when you have a rabbit.’' 

“ Oh, why did you give him away ? ” asked 
Eunice, with such sympathy that the tears came 
to Gideon’s eyes. 

“ Aunt made me sell him. She does n’t 
care for rabbits.” 

“ What a shame,” said Eunice. ‘‘ Mother 
likes rabbits almost as much as if they were 
us. She loves everything that is little and 
young.” 

“ I have n’t any mother,” said Gideon, after 
a pause, and Eunice slipped her hand softly 
into his. 

I ’ll be a mother to you,” she said, so ear- 
nestly that Gideon laughed. 

‘‘ Wow 1 ” called Weejums Wood from the 
seclusion of her basket, and Franklin said, 
“Why, Eunice, you’ve forgotten your child.” 

“No, I hadn’t,” returned Eunice, hastily. 
“ Only I wanted her to get cooled off before 
she met these other cats. You know Weejums* 
temper.” 


82 


A PINK TEA 


“ I should think I did,’* was the disgusted 
reply. “ Our whole family is ruled by it.” 

‘‘ I have n’t any white rabbit now,” said 
Kenneth to Constantia, by way of opening a 
conversation, “ have you ? ” 

“ Certainly not,” she replied with a little 
laugh. 

‘‘Well, lots of people do,” said Weasels, 
resenting her lofty tone. “ I have myself.” 

“ I reckon you have ! ” she said, with such 
scorn that Weasels turned away, growling 
sullenly, “You can’t prove it.” 

“ What a singularly handsome cat,” said 
Bachelor to Miss Harry, as Weejums was 
lifted from her travelling basket. “ Quite the 
prettiest I ever saw. I shall go make her 
acquaintance.” And he walked confidently 
across the floor, lifting his false tail. 

“ H’m ! ” said Miss Harry, spitefully. “ I 
don’t care for a pink nose myself. I think 
that a lady’s nose should always match her 
dress.” (Miss Harry’s own nose was brown 
like her fur.) 


83 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


But Pandora said nothing, for she especially 
admired that deep shade of pink, and thought 
that if a lady’s nose always matched her dress, 
how funny Elga would look with a nose to 



WHAT A SINGULARLY HANDSOME CAT** 


match her new green calico, spotted with yellow 
snakes. 

“ Ha-ftzt ! ” said Weejums, as Bachelor 
started to address her ; and he retired hastily 
across the room with a scratch on his nose. 

‘‘ A vision of loveliness,” he said, as he sat 
down once more beside Miss Harry, “but 
shy.” 


84 


A PINK TEA 


Meanwhile Annabel and Gideon had been 
arranging two rows of chairs like the seats in a 
train, and now Gideon was ringing a bell, and 
calling, “ All aboard for Yellowstone Park 1 
Step lively, please.” 

‘‘ Tickets 1 ” said Annabel, holding out strips 
of pink paper. “ I 'm the ticket office, gentle- 
men ; step right along.” 

“ I don’t need one for my cat,” said Eunice. 
“ Children in arms carried free.” 

“ I don’t need one for Robby, either,” said 
Weasels. “ He ’s under five.” 

“ Mine ain’t,” said Gideon, as Bachelor 
stalked along beside him. ‘‘ Tickets for two 
adults, please.” 

“ Relatives of the conductor ride free,” said 
Annabel. 

“ All aboard, everybody !” sang out Gideon ; 
and the children scrambled into the chairs, 
wondering what was coming next. 

‘‘Now we’re off,” said Annabel, who had 
taken the front seat with Pandora. 

“ Weej urns’ ribbon is off,” said Eunice, 
85 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


anxiously. “ Would you mind stopping the 
train while I go back and get it ? ” 

‘‘ Now if that is n*t just like Weejums,” said 
Kenneth, patting Hominy’s ears. “ A rabbit 
would n’t lose his ribbon off. He ’d eat it.” 

Gideon pulled a make-believe cord, and the 
train came to a standstill. 

‘‘ Here ’s your baby’s garment, madam,” he 
said, coming back with the lovely pale-blue 
bow that Weejums had shed before starting. 

“ Ding-dong I Here we go again. Ladies 
and gentlemen, let me call your attention to 
the great beauties of the landscape through 
which we are scorching. Yonder is the country 
seat of — of — well, of the Tammany Tiger.” 

And each cat was held up to a make-believe 
window in order to view her distant cousin. 

“ Popcorn ! Peanuts I ” called a new voice 
from the hall, and in came Professor Van 
Camp, with a basket on his arm and a boy’s 
cap over one ear. 

“ Oh, Harold ! how nice of you to come 
home so soon ! ” said Annabel, in delight. 

86 


A PINK TEA 


‘‘ Come home ! why, I Ve been riding in the 
caboose the whole time. I ’m Micky Finne- 
gan, the train boy. Peanuts!** And he put 
a bag of them in the lap of every passenger, 
with a small bag of popcorn for the cats. 

‘‘We are now about to enter a tunnel,** said 
Gideon, jumping oif the train to pull down the 
window-shades, and the room became suddenly 
dark. 

“ Is n’t this awful ! ** whispered Eunice to 
Constantia. “ Don’t you always feel nervous 
in a tunnel ? ** 

“ It is n’t a real one, you know,” said Con- 
stantia, quite failing to enter into the spirit of 
such a baby’s game. 

“ Hi, look at that giraffe ! ” called Weasels, 
as they left the tunnel behind. “ We *re goin* 
through Africa now. See that monkey on a 
tree 1 ” 

“ Papers, morning papers 1 *’ called the train 
boy, starting down the aisle again. “ TimeSy 
Herald, Tribune ? ” And everybody bought 
the colored supplements, and Buster Brown 
87 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


pictures that Annabel had been collecting for 
this purpose. But as this was a free trip to- 
day, all the papers were sold for nothing, a 
method that really ought to be adopted on 
other trains. And before the passengers had 
finished their peanuts and read their papers, 
Gideon threw open a door into the hall, crying : 
“ Hoboken ! , All change for Niagara Falls ! ** 


88 


AN UNMANNERLY HOSTESS 


CHAPTER EIGHT 

AN UNMANNERLY HOSTESS 

T he children heard a great splash- 
ing of water, and followed Gideon 
into the bathroom, where the train 
boy stood waiting with an open 
umbrella, ready to show them the great falls. 

Come under two at a time so as not to get 
spattered,'* he said ; and turned on a faucet in 
the bathtub. 

A mild stream of water trickled out, and 
Weasels exclaimed: “ Oh, turnips ! isn't that 
superb 1 " 

“Just look at the rainbows," said Eunice. 

“ I 'm goin' fishin'," said Kenneth. 

“ Oh, how silly ! " thought little Constantia, 
who had never played much with other chil- 
dren. But being well bred she kept her opin- 
ions to herself. 


89 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


‘‘You have only two minutes left in which 
to catch the train/* said Gideon, consulting 
a make-believe watch ; and Annabel added, 
“ Yes, hurry back, all of you. There *s going 
to be a hold-up.** 

“ Hurray ! ** shouted Weasels. “ Let me do 
the holding.** 

“ No, let me stop the train,** said Kenneth. 
“ I *11 put a pin on the track.** 

“Well, you can both be highwaymen, then ; 
but don*t scream too loud.** 

The train started again, but suddenly there 
came a roar from outside, and Gideon rushed 
from the platform, crying : “We *re boarded ! 
We *re burgled ! Hide your valuables ! ** And 
every cat was smuggled out of sight beneath 
jackets and skirts. 

“ I *m a big, black polar bear,** howled 
Kenneth, prancing into the car. 

“ You must n*t say that,** corrected Weasels, 
from outside. “ You *re a robber and a cat- 
thief** 

“ I ’m a cat-thief,** said Kenneth, cheerfully, 
90 


AN UNMANNERLY HOSTESS 


stopping before Constantia. ‘‘My little lady, 
have you a cat ? ” 

“ Yes,** said Constantia, bravely. “ But you 
can*t have her.** 

“ No, no,** whispered Eunice. “ That *s not 
the game. You must pretend not to have 
one.** 

“ I pretend not to have one,** said Con- 
stantia. 

“ Wow ! ** cried Miss Harry, in muffled rage, 
from under Constantia*s skirt. 

“ Ah ! ** said Kenneth, sternly. “ You must 
give up the cat, for you have basely deceived 
me.** And he handed Miss Harry to Weasels, 
who entered, scowling, with his hair pulled 
down over his eyes. 

“ What are you going to do with her ? ** 
asked Constantia, in terror. 

“ Carry her off to our mountain cave,** 
threatened Weasels. But here Eunice came to 
the rescue again, whispering, “ It *s only the 
game, you know. They would n*t hurt Miss 
Harry.” 


91 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


‘‘ Madam, have you a cat ? ” asked Kenneth 
of Eunice. “ If not, forever after hold your 
peace.” 

“ Knave — villain — rascal ! ” exclaimed 
Eunice. Do I look like a Noah’s Ark ? ” 

‘‘ Hold up your hands,” commanded the 
robber, fiercely. 

I can’t. If I let go of Weejums she’ll 
run away. She’s kicking awfully hard, and 
scratching my leg. Oh 1 ” 

‘‘ Then you also have deceived me,” said 
Kenneth, snatching the cat ; “ me, — a poor, 
hard-working robber, and father of twelve little 
orphan children. I will steal every cat on this 
train.” And he went through the car collect- 
ing the other animals — who seemed very glad 
to be set at liberty again — and went off to the 
door. 

“ Ten minutes for refreshments ! ” called the 
conductor, and all the passengers filed into the 
dining-room, where a little lunch-counter was 
arranged to look like those in railway sta- 
tions. Sandwiches were piled in high glass 
92 


AN UNMANNERLY HOSTESS 


dishes, a bunch of bananas swung from the 
ceiling, and a row of little pink paper bags 
contained each a crinkly cake with a P. in 
pink letters on the frosting. And for every 
guest there was a pink box of candy with 
a tiny photograph of Pandora’s head on the 
cover. 

“ Oh, how sweet 1 ” said Constantia, smiling 
at last, and Annabel gave her a little hug of 
gratitude, for she had feared until now that 
Constantia thought her too silly for a grown- 
up lady. 

Don’t the cats draw any of these prizes ? ” 
asked Weasels, opening his eyes at the sight of 
Elga coming in with eight saucers of pink ice- 
cream. 

‘‘ Just as soon as we ’re through,” laughed 
Annabel. ‘‘ You know the youngest should 
always be served last.” 

“ Hominy ’s the youngest,” said Gideon, 

but he tried to be served first, because when I 
put him down in the kitchen he started to eat 
up the mat.” 


93 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ Has Miss Harry any kittens ? ” asked 
Eunice politely of Constantia. 

“ She never had but one/’ said Constantia, 
as if kittens were something of a disgrace, 
‘‘and that we gave away. Her name was Caroline 
Holly de Montpre, but she was n’t like a 
Southern cat at all. She was very common.” 

“Do you call Weejums common i*” asked 
Eunice, indignantly. “ We think she ’s very 
refined.” 

“No indeed. Weejums has quite the air of 
a lady. She might almost be from Charles- 
ton.” 

This did not comfort Eunice much, but as 
Constantia had the air of having paid Weejums 
a compliment, the matter was allowed to rest. 

“ Now everybody must pay a forfeit to get 
back his animal,” said Franklin, when the 
refreshments had disappeared. “ I ’ll hold them 
up, and we ’ll take turns in saying what the 
owners must do.” 

The children ran back to the sitting-room, 
where they found the cats amusing themselves 
94 


AN UNMANNERLY HOSTESS 


according to taste. Robby and Pandora were 
having a fine game of rip-the-lace-curtains, to 
the great annoyance 
of Bachelor and Miss 
Harry, who sat in the 
window making com- 
ments on the passers- 
by ; while Weejums, 
the resourceful, was 
calmly biting the 
young ends from the 
ferns in Annabel's 
jardiniere. 

“ What does Eu- 
nice do to get this 
cat ? " asked Frank- . ^ 
lin, plucking Wee- 4 > . 
jums from her 
naughty task. 

‘‘ She shall make 
a noise like — like a 

lobster salad,” said Kenneth. And after a 
little thought, Eunice emitted something be- 
95 



A FINE GAME OF * RIP-THE- 
LACE-CURTAINS * ** 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


tween a shriek and a sneeze that satisfied the 
company. 

What must be done to recover this price- 
less pearl ? ** asked Franklin, waving Miss 
Harry aloft. 

‘‘ She must say that Northern cats are as nice 
as Southern ones,*’ said Eunice, quickly. 

“ I can’t say that, ” objected Constantia, 
politely, “ because it would n’t be true.” 

“ Say it 1 You ’ve got to say it ! ” called all 
the children, almost as one voice ; and Constan- 
tia looked uncomfortable. 

‘‘Well — I think Weejums is better than 
some Southern cats — the worst ones,” she 
admitted, and with a flourish Miss Harry was 
placed in her arms. 

“ Now, Annabel,” said Franklin, seizing 
Pandora. “ Let ’s make her do something 
nice, fellows ; sing a song, or give us a recita- 
tion.” 

“ Pandora belongs to me too,” said the 
Professor. “ So we ’ll both recite a poem called 
‘The Cordial Cat,’ and act it out.” 

96 


AN UNMANNERLY HOSTESS 


“ Hurrah!*" called Weasels. ‘‘Who *11 be the 
cat?” 

“ I will/* said Annabel, “ and Brother *11 be 
Aunt Susan’s guest. Now listen, and don’t 
anybody laugh.” 

The Professor began : 

** Aunt Susan owned a cordial cat. 

Who visitors beguiled ; 

And when he heard the door-bell ring 
He arched his back and smiled.** 

Here Annabel had some trouble in arching her 
back, but the smile was more of a success. 

** Aunt Susan dressed him in a rufF, 

That he might better please. 

And Thomas liked it well enough, 

Although it made him sneeze.** 

This part of the story was very well done, as 
Annabel looked quite puss-like in the news- 
paper collar that Brother arranged for her. 

** But once a certain person called 
Who would not cast an eye 
Upon this charming animal. 

And merely passed him by.’* 

97 


7 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Here Annabel looked sad, and retired into a 
corner. 

“ * She *s not responsive,* Thomas thought, 

‘ Perhaps I *d better purr ; * 

And leaped upon her lap to try 
His blandishments on her.** 

At this point Annabel jumped into a plumply 
cushioned chair, and purred wonderfully. 

“ But suddenly he found himself 
Swung by the neck aloft. 

And hurled head foremost from the house. 
Although he spit and coughed.** 

This was harder to do on account of Annabel’s 
size, but finally the Professor got her to the 
door, and the children heard her making cat 
noises from behind it. 

** Aunt Susan hurried to the door 
With eyes both wide and pained. 

* Oh, why ? * she gasped. The visitor smiled. 

* I hate them,* she explained.** 

This was greeted with much applause, be- 
cause it was so silly, the audience said. It was 
such a relief to find grown people who could 
98 


AN UNMANNERLY HOSTESS 


be as silly as that. Usually one saw through 
them at once, and knew that they were not the 
real thing. 

When the other forfeits had been paid, 
Annabel said, “ Now will the cats please walk 
out to supper ? ” And in place of the railroad 
lunch that had been served in the dining-room, 
there stood a low table ( made from old box 
covers propped on books) , set with six little 
plates of raw oysters. 

Pandora, will you preside at the head of 
the table and Hominy at the foot?** asked 
Annabel, seriously, ‘‘ so as to keep the con- 
versation going at both ends ? ** 

‘‘ Can’t Robby sit beside Pandora ? ** asked 
Weasels. ‘‘ He *s so bashful with strangers.*’ 
‘‘ I *ve got hold of Weejums* tail,” said 
Eunice, ‘‘ in case she gets mad at anybody.” 

Hominy did not care for oysters, so a little 
mould of his namesake cereal had been pre- 
pared for him ; but when Bachelor, who sat 
next to him, had eaten most of Hominy’s 
oysters as well as his own. Hominy made a 
LOFC. 99 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


horrible effort and finished the last one himself. 
He afterwards regretted this, as his feelings 
were very strange, and prevented him from 
enjoying the next course, of milk served in 
little Japanese bowls. 

“ Each cat is urged to keep his bowl as a 
souvenir,** said Annabel ; “ and from the looks 
of things just now, I don*t think they *11 need 
to be washed.** 

After refreshments came what Annabel called 
the Cats* Grab Bag, which was a cunning nest 
of catnip balls, each attached to a long ribbon. 

‘‘We’ll shake the ribbons,** she said, “and 
let the cats pounce in turn. Whichever ribbon 
a cat grabs will belong to her ball.** 

There was some trouble about this at first, 
as both Robby and the hostess seized three 
ribbons apiece, and lay down in them delight- 
edly, winding them about each other*s hind 
legs. But presently they were untangled to 
await their turn, and each received a round 
catnip ball, made of bright calico, filled with 
“the reviving herb.** 


100 


AN UNMANNERLY HOSTESS 


Then followed a wild rolling match, dur- 
ing which Miss Harry and Weejums forgot 
their dignity so much as to speak to each 
other, and when the children were tired of 
laughing at their antics it was time to go 
home. 

Do you live far from New York? ” asked 
Gideon, wistfully, as Eunice came to say good- 
bye. 

‘‘ No, only forty-five minutes. You must 
be sure and come out to see us. Miss Annabel 
will bring you, and p’r’aps some day we Ml be 
having a party too.” 

“ I Ve got a yellow rabbit at home,” said 
Kenneth to Constantia. “ I got it the Fourth 
of July instead of a cannon-cracker.” 

‘‘ We fire off our crackers at Christmas,” 
said Constantia. 

Say, that’s a fine scheme. You can get so 
many of them into a stocking.” 

‘‘ Oh, dear ! I don’t want to go home,” said 
Weasels, thrusting Robby’s bowl and catnip- 
ball inside his jacket. 

lOI 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Why do you, then? ” asked Annabel, laugh- 
ing. ‘‘ Stay and spend the night.*’ 

“ I *m going out to Grandma *s for over 
Sunday,” replied Weasels, politely. But I 
thank you just the same.” 

‘‘ I *ve had a most enjoyable evenin’,” said 
Constantia, so prettily that Annabel could not 
help kissing her ; and the child added, “ Miss 
Harry and I will make our party-call soon.” 

“ Oh, where ’s Pandora ? We must say good- 
bye to her too,” said Eunice, putting Weejums 
into her basket. 

“ Yes, where ’s Pandora ? ” asked some one 
else. 

But Pandora was nowhere to be found, be- 
cause, in spite of the fact that she was giving a 
party, she had taken advantage of the general 
excitement to ride down on the dumbwaiter 
with the ice-cream freezer. And at the moment 
when Eunice asked for her, she was walking up 
Central Park West, between Ninety-ninth and 
One Hundredth Streets. 


102 


HOOK AND LADDER KITTEN 


CHAPTER NINE 

A HOOK AND LADDER KITTEN 

now, if that isn’t cheek!” 
■ said Henry the fireman, in amaze- 

^ ment. ‘‘Here’s a strange kitten 
curled up on Abraham’s back.” 
The three fire horses stood patiently in their 
stalls, waiting for the practice alarm which 
would throw open the doors leading to the 
room where the truck stood. Two of these 
horses were white, but their leader was a big 
black fellow with flashing eyes, and a shining 
back as elastic as a leather cushion. 

“ A very comfortable bed,” Pandora had 
thought, when some boys chased her into the 
engine house from Columbus Avenue. “ Such 
high legs, and a soft mattress. And it does n’t 
look like a folding bed either.” 

So, to the surprise of Abraham, she 
“ shinned ” up his strong tail and went to sleep, 

103 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


quite safe now from the attacks of those 
frolicsome boys. 

‘‘ What sort of fly is this ? ” thought 
Abraham, twisting his neck around as far as it 



HER BED HAD TROTTED OUT TO THE FIRE-TRUCK** 

would go. ‘Ht’s too big to be switched off*, 
and yet it does n’t try to bite. But it buzzes,” 
for Pandora had begun to express her pleasure 
in a drowsy purr. 


104 


HOOK AND LADDER KITTEN 


“ Well, Abraham, you Ve broke out with a 
new kind of measles, for sure,*’ said Henry, 
laughing. ‘‘Now we’ll see what happens 
when the gong strikes.” 

Clang ! went a deafening bell ; and Pandora 
barely had time to seize Abraham’s mane with 
her claws before her bed had trotted out to the 
fire-truck, and the room was full of men sliding 
down a pole from a hole in the floor above. 

“Take her off before the harness drops!” 
called Henry, fearing that the poor kitten 
would be stunned. But no fire harness waits 
for cat or man, and it came clattering down on 
the horses’ backs, missing Pandora’s nose by 
one inch, and her tail by another. 

“ Ha-ftzt 1 ” spit Pandora, angrily, but did 
not offer to move. 

“ Got spunk, has n’t it ? ” said Brian, another 
of the men. 

“ Let ’s keep it for a mascot,” said a third. 

“ What ’s a mascot ? ” asked another. 
“ Something to eat ? ” 

“ No, it ’s something that brings good 
105 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


luck — a kind of four-legged horseshoe with 
feelings/* 

Look at Abraham ! ** said Henry. “ The 
old fool likes it.** 

For when the harness was lifted again, Abra- 
ham did not trot back quickly to his stall, 
like the other horses. He picked his way 
along very carefully, as if he were carrying a 
baby, or something else that might break if he 
let it fall. 

Henry and the other men roared with laugh- 
ter, for Abraham was a proud, high-spirited 
beast, full of oats and temper, who never 
allowed any one to pet him. 

“If it was only Candy, now,** Brian said. 
“ Candy *s a regular old molly-coddle. But 
Abraham ! Well, any cat that can boss 
Abraham can have me.** 

So Pandora was adopted by the fire com- 
pany, and learned to slide down the pole with 
the men when an alarm was sounded. The 
first trip of this kind was an accident, as in a 
wild fit of play she had fallen through the hole, 
io6 


HOOK AND LADDER KITTEN 


and only saved herself by grasping the pole 
with her claws. After this the men made her 
slide down every day, and rewarded her with a 
bit of meat when she reached the floor. 

But her favorite resting place was on Abra- 
ham’s back, and she would neither fall nor 
jump off, if she happened to be there when 
an alarm was sounded. 

There ’s a new rule to be observed now 
before we ’re ready to start,” said Henry, one 
day, with Pandora on his knee. ‘‘ Down the 
pole — harness — helmets — and take off the 
catr' 

Many a time Pandora was left behind with 
injured feelings, while her old friend Abraham 
galloped snorting down the avenue, with the 
ladders rattling behind him, and Henry up in 
front, his arms stretched forward as if they 
would be pulled entirely off. Even Brian re- 
fused to stay and talk with her, although Pan- 
dora was always hoping that he would, for his 
place was at the end of the truck, and he 
swung on just as it left the stable, rode and off 
107 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


flying up and down as if he were on a spring 
board. 

‘‘ I wish I had n*t run away from Annabel,” 
she would think, gazing around the empty 
firehouse. “ She was so much better than the 
janitor’s family ; not that they were n’t kind, 
of course, but they never petted me, and 
seemed to think less of me than they did of 
Gottfried. But Annabel thought of me first, 
and it was not kind to leave her.” 

‘‘Are you intending to run away from us, 
too ? ” asked Addie May, the third fire horse, 
one night, as Pandora tiptoed along the edge 
of her stall. 

“ Not yet,” said Pandora. “ There is still 
much to learn in this business. I don’t feel 
that I have mastered it.” 

Addie May heaved a windy sigh, which 
nearly blew Pandora off her perch, and said, 
“ The business is all right, but I ’m not well.” 

“Not well?” asked Pandora, in distress. 
“ Why, what ’s the matter ? ” 

“ I have a misery in my stomach,” was the 
io8 


HOOK AND LADDER KITTEN 


sad reply. ‘‘You see how big my stomach is? 
Well, I have a misery to match the size.** 

The next day Henry discovered this misery, 
and a “ vet ** was called to see Addie May. 

“No hay for a week,** he prescribed after 
looking her over. “ Bran mash and oats, but 
no hay.** And Addie May sighed, for hay to 
her was a kind of Charlotte Russe, with butter- 
scotch and chocolate creams mixed in. 

But Candy whinnied softly, “ Never mind, 
old girl ! ** and the next morning Addie May 
was as drooping and listless as before. When 
the practice call came she crawled slowly out to 
the truck, and stood there with half-closed eyes. 

“ We *11 have to turn her out to pasture,’* 
said Henry, “ if she does n*t show more life.** 

“ She runs all right when a real alarm comes,** 
said Brian. 

“Yes, but that’s nerves. Her heart isn’t 
in it.” 

A few days later the “ vet ’* came again, and 
after a quick glance at the horse, asked, “ Why 
did n’t you let up on the hay ? ** 

109 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“We did,” said Henry, “She has n't had 
any for a week.” 

“ Oh, has n't she ? ” was the scornful reply. 
“ Look at that stomach. It 's cram full of hay.” 

“ I have the feeding of those horses,” said 
Henry, angrily, “ and I can swear that this one 
has n't touched hay for a week.” 

“ Well, somebody 's been stuffing her then 
for a joke. You 'd better sit up with her to- 
night and see that there 's no foul play.” 

So that evening, after the horses had been fed, 
Brian and Henry lit their pipes and sat down 
near the door, telling stories of different animals 
who had been their friends. 

“That Candy, now,” said Henry. “You 
know it was through me that he joined the 
force.” 

“ The boys told me you trained him,” said 
Brian. 

“ Well, you never heard how we first met, 
did you ? ” 

“ I presume you were kindly introduced by 
some mutual friend.” 


no 


HOOK AND LADDER KITTEN 


No, sir. He belonged to a no-account 
man in the town where I came from; the sort 
that never does a stroke of work and lets his 
wife support him. Well, one night when I 
dropped in at Stringer’s bar this chap was there, 
loafing around. The boys were all guying him, 
and trying to make him talk, but I thought it 
was sort of mean, because he ’d been a good 
sort before he took to whiskey. And then 
what do you suppose happened?” 

‘‘ Give it up,” said Brian. 

“ Well, the swinging doors were pushed 
open, and in came a white horse, a big fellow 
too, and walked straight up to where this man 
was sitting. He looked up and said, ‘Well, 
Candy, I guess you ’re right. It ’s bedtime.’ 
And stumbled out of the place, holding on 
to the horse’s mane.” 

“ ‘ Say ! ’ I asked the boys. ‘ Is this a private 
circus, or what ? ’ 

“ ‘ Oh, no,’ they said. ‘ That ’s his pet horse, 
and it always comes after him if he stays out 
too late. The man’s wife turns it loose and 


III 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


it hunts till it finds him. Several nights he ’s 
been so sleepy that we had to strap him on 
Candy’s back, but he never refuses to go when 
Candy comes for him, and Candy has never 
failed to get him home all right.’ ” 

“ Good old Candy ! ” said Brian, softly. 

Well, not long after that I got a job on 
the force, and as they always want bright 
horses I told them about Candy. They said 
they ’d take him and I wrote, but the man 
would n’t sell — said that Candy was his trained 
nurse. A few months later he died, and his 
widow wrote saying that she needed the money 
and that Candy was for sale. So we took up 
a subscription for her from all the engine 
houses, and, added to what the company paid. 
Candy fetched her the sum of four hundred 
dollars and sixty-two cents.” 

‘‘Not a bad price for a plain horse,” said 
Brian. 

“ Ah, but he was n’t any plain horse — don’t 
you believe it ! He had brains that were worth 
a thousand, and muscles that just needed train- 
ing. He — ” 


II2 


HOOK AND LADDER KITTEN 


‘‘ What was that ? ” asked Brian, suddenly. 

‘‘ I guess the cat turned over on Abraham’s 
back. We ’ll go look, though.” 

They held a lantern up to the stalls, and 
found Pandora sleeping peacefully on her accus- 
tomed bed. But Addie May, the invalid, was 
placidly chewing a great bunch of hay ! 

Good ghosts ! where did she get that ? ” 
exclaimed Brian. ‘‘There ’s nobody else awake.” 

“ Come away and watch,” said Henry ; so 
they crept out of sight and waited. 

Presently Candy raised his head cautiously, 
saw no one looking, and filling his mouth with 
hay tossed it over into Addie May’s manger. 

“So that’s who did it,” said Brian, roaring 
with laughter ; and Henry added, “ Well, 
brains are n’t always worth a thousand dollars 
more to the company.” 

The next night Addie May’s stall was 
changed, and the fierce Abraham was placed 
between her and her friend. The story of 
Candy’s shrewdness was told to everybody who 
visited the truck house, and the row of small 
8 113 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


boys who gathered around at practice time 
drew a long breath and said, Ah ! ” when they 
heard it. Then they brought sugar and car- 
amels and peanut brittle, for it was because of 
Candy’s passion for sweet things that he had 
received his name. 

Can’t I ride out on the truck with you 
some day, Henry? ” asked a very blond little 
boy with unpleasant eyes. 

No, kid, it ’s against rules. You ’d be 
shaken off at the first corner.” 

But the blond little boy would not be dis- 
couraged. “ Can’t I go out with you just a 
little way ? ” he asked the next afternoon. 

“ No, sonny, we don’t carry passengers on 
trucks. We go out for business.” 

Pandora, who was sitting on Henry’s knee, 
listened attentively, hoping to learn now where 
it was that Henry and Brian and the horses 
went, when the bell sounded. But nothing 
more was said, and the next day the boy came 
again. 

“ Can’t I ride out on the trucks with you 
114 


HOOK AND LADDER KITTEN 


to-day ? ** he asked. And Henry brought his 
feet down from the door-jamb with a stamp, 
saying No ! ” so loudly that Pandora spit, and 
rounded up her back on his shoulder. 

‘‘ All right for you,” said the boy, casting a 
quick glance at Pandora. ‘‘ I s’pose you think 
a heap of that cat ? ” 

Yes, she *s our mascot, and brings us luck. 
We haven’t had an accident since she joined 
the force.” 

‘‘ Huh 1 ” said the unpleasant little boy, shuf- 
fling ofF unpleasantly. But to Henry his ab- 
sence could never be anything but a treat. 

That evening there was an alarm, and while 
the truck-house was almost deserted, the blond 
little boy crept back and found Pandora sleeping 
on a carriage sponge in the corner. He thrust 
her inside his jacket, saying, Now I guess 
you won’t bring ’em any more luck ! ” and, 
turning off" Columbus Avenue, hurried towards 
the river. 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


CHAPTER TEN 

FRIENDS TO THE RESCUE 

** *X O W, what 's going to happen 

I next ? ” thought Pandora, with 

I interest. 

It did not occur to her that any 
one could mean harm to such an attractive 
little person as herself, and when the boy ran 
down to the track beside the river, she thrust 
her head out eagerly to see what game they 
were to play. Gottfried and Gideon had both 
played delightful games with her, so she imag- 
ined that all boys were little gentlemen, who 
knew how to treat a ladylike little kitten. 

She caught a glimpse of a man strolling past, 
followed by two dogs, and although the man did 
not notice the blond little boy, the dogs did. 

Bad luck to Henry ! ” he said, holding 
Pandora up by the neck ; and before she could 
speak, he threw her out into the water, as far as 

ii6 


FRIENDS TO THE RESCUE 


his wretched little arm could make her go. 
Fortunately this was not far; but Pandora was 
too frightened by the suddenness of the attack 
to swim. Her breath failed and she was 
about to sink, when there came a pat-a-splash 
in the water beside her, and something seized 
her by the back. 

A fish ! she thought in terror. A 
monstrous sardine ! ** But the sardine did not 
attempt to eat her, and presently she felt her 
tail out of water, as something carried her 
ashore and laid her on the grass. 

“ Good gracious. Blarney ! what have you 
got there — a rat ? ” asked a man’s voice. And 
through a shower of wet bangs came a yelp 
that Pandora seemed to have heard before. 

The other dog came up too, and instead of 
worrying Pandora, licked her with a recognizing 
tongue. 

“ Why, it ’s Conrad — Weasels’ Conrad!” 
she exclaimed. And Conrad wagged his far- 
away tail so hard that the wag actually wiggled 
up to his ears. 


117 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


I guess you *re alive now, ain’t ye ? ” asked 
the man, picking up the kitten. “ It ’s too 
bad Charley ’s gone to Grandma’s. He ’d like 
the job of nursin’ ye. Never mind, I ’ll do 
my best.” So he rolled Pandora in a big red 
handkerchief and started for home, with 
Conrad and Blarney barking madly at his 
heels. 

Got another baby for ye, mother,” he 
said, as he opened the door of his flat. “ One 
that Blarney hauled out of the river.” 

And somebody from the kitchen called out 
rudely, “ Hot air ! ” 

Well, the poor little tike,” said Weasels’ 
mother, coming forward tenderly. If she 
is n’t a sight ! I ’ll just get her a sup of some- 
thing hot to drink.” 

“ Ah, how do you do ? ” called the strange 
voice again, as Pandora was placed on a pillow 
by the stove. 

“ How de do, ma’am,” she said faintly, not 
wishing to be thought rude. 

‘‘ Ae - ow ! ” came in familiar tones from the 

ii8 


FRIENDS TO THE RESCUE 


kitchen, as Weasels* mother returned, carrying 
a saucer of hot milk. 

“No, Robby, it*s not for you,** she said, 
taking Pandora on her knee. But to her sur- 
prise Robby forgot the milk at the sight of 
that pitiful bundle, ending in a wet and mourn- 
ful tail. 

“ O Pandora ! ** he cried in distress, “ can 
this be you ? ** and rubbed his warm face against 
hers until it was nearly dry — making little 
soft “ P-u-r-r mew ** calls of sympathy and 
love. 

“Now ain*t he got a big heart!** said 
Weasels* father, admiringly. “ He *s just as 
foolish as the rest of us.** 

“Hot air!** shrieked the rude voice again ; 
and Pandora shivered. 

“ Now, Polly, you just keep quiet,** said the 
man, going to the door. “ What do you mean 
by scarin* a poor, wet little lady that *s fell in 
the river like little Eva in Uncle Tom*s Cabin. 
You*re a shockin* old bird, with no more 
manners than a hen.** 

119 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ My name ain't Polly, it 's Rosa," came 
the gentle retort. 

Well, then, Rosa, hush up." 

Come, Blarney, Blarney, Blarney ! " called 
Rosa, in a voice exactly like Weasels' own. 
But Blarney, who was drying by the stove, 
only smiled out of one eye, and did not move. 
Had he not seen Charley off to Grandma's 
that very day ? So he smiled out of the other, 
too, when Conrad hurried from the room in 
hopes that Weasels might have returned and 
brought something for Blarney to eat, which 
Conrad, being first on the scene, could secure. 
But there was no one in the kitchen except 
Rosa, who sat eating a sandwich composed of 
a feather and a piece of paper, and who, when 
she saw Conrad, turned upside down on her 
swing and chuckled, ‘‘ Hot air 1 " 

Pandora kept hoping that Weasels would 
come home and recognize her, so that she 
could be returned to the Van Camps. But 
Weasels had, as usual, gone to spend Sunday 
with Grandma, and the next morning his 
120 


FRIENDS TO THE RESCUE 


father and mother prepared to join him 
there. 

“ What 'll we do with this extra cat ? " asked 
the man, whose name, it seems, was Mr. 
Lawrence. 

“ Why, leave it here with Rosa and plenty 
to eat, just as we leave Robby," said Mrs. 
Lawrence. “ When we get back to-morrow 
Charley can find a home for it.” 

‘‘Surprising how lively it seems to-day,” 
said her husband, with a laugh, as Robby and 
Pandora capered sideways through the door. 

“Oh, she's got eight lives left out of the 
nine. There was n't more than one killed 
yesterday.” 

She went around the room arranging saucers 
of milk at different levels, one on the table and 
one on the mantelpiece, so that the cats would 
have to hunt to find them. 

“ That prevents them from eating all they 've 
got within the next five minutes,” she said. 
“ Now for Rosa's dinner.” 

She fed Rosa and put a fresh carpet on the 

I2I 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


floor of her cage, the carpet being a copy of 
the Herald with a large picture of the Mayor 
on it. 

‘‘ Ah ! how do you do ? ” asked Rosa, ami- 
ably ; but as the picture did not respond, she 
tore it to pieces with her strong beak, and lay 
on her back among the fragments, kicking 
them with her claws. 

‘‘ Now just wait till I tell your father on you,** 
said Mrs. Lawrence, severely. ‘^And him a 
good Republican. Father, Rosa *s a Demo- 
crat. She*s taken the Mayor apart and is 
playing ball with his nose.** 

Presently they called Conrad and Blarney, 
who were to be left with the people on the 
ground floor, and went out, locking the door. 

“ Come, kitty, kitty, kitty ! ** came in Mrs. 
Lawrence*s voice from the kitchen, and Pandora 
ran, thinking that she might have returned ; 
but it was only that wicked Rosa, still toying 
with the Mayor*s nose. 

“ You *11 learn better next time,** said Robby, 
smiling, as Pandora reappeared. 

122 


FRIENDS TO THE RESCUE 


The two kittens played until they were tired, 
then slept ; but were soon awakened by hear- 
ing a great commotion in the hall. Some 
one was running, and shouting “ Fire ! ** And 
after that came the sound of more running, 
while a puff of smoke floated in through the 
keyhole. 

The curtains in the second-floor flat had 
blown into a lamp, and soon the whole place 
was ablaze. 

‘‘ Is everybody out ? Is everybody out ? ” 
people were asking in the street below, and 
some one said, ‘‘ Yes, there ’s no one in the 
third-floor flat. The Lawrences are out of 
town. We ’re all safe.” 

Yes, all safe but two dear little kittens and 
a frightened parrot, who were locked in the 
stifling third-floor apartment, unable to escape. 
If Rosa had been in the front part of the house 
her voice might have been heard, but as she 
was in the kitchen all her cries were drowned 
by shouts in the street. 

Robby and Pandora were balanced on the 
123 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


window-ledge, getting what air they could, 
when suddenly they heard the clang of a new 
bell, and around the corner came a hook- 
and-ladder truck, with Abraham in the lead, 
and Candy and Addie May pulling gallantly 
on either side. There was Henry driving, and 
Brian on behind, with his legs jiggling up and 
down just as Pandora had seen them fifty times 
before, when they started on their mad trips. 
And now at last she understood where they all 
went, when the gong sounded. 

“Is everybody out ? ” she heard Brian ask, 
and mewed piteously to tell him of their dread- 
ful danger; but he could not hear, and the 
janitor answered, “ All out, sir.” 

It was so hot in the room now that Robby 
had retired into a pail of water, and sat there 
calmly, all covered but his head. 

“ I say, what *s that in the window ? ” called 
Henry, from his high seat on the truck. “ I 
saw something move. Are you sure every- 
body *s out ? ” 

“ I see something too,” said another man, as 
124 


FRIENDS TO THE RESCUE 


the smoke rolled away. “ Oh, it 's nothing but 
a cat.” 

“ Did you see a cat there ? ” asked Brian, 
laying hold of a ladder. “ Here, boys, put 
her up — steady — pull — third floor. I ain’t 



going to let a cat burn if I can help it.’^ He 
scaled the ladder quickly, and took Pandora in 
his arms. There was a funny splash, and 
Robby leaped from the pail to his shoulder, 
whisking a dripping tail into the fireman’s eyes. 

“ Hot air ! ” moaned a stifled voice from the 
kitchen. “ Oh, how do you do ? ” 

I2S 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ Hot air ? I should say so ! ” repeated the 
man. The brutes have left a child locked 
in that room.” 

He made a brave dash for the kitchen and 
brought out, not a child, but a well-smoked 
parrot, who kept calling for Blarney and Kitty 
by turns. 

‘‘ Your first remark was the most descriptive,” 
said Brian, as with the perspiration streaming 
from his face he came down the ladder with his 
rescued friends. 

“ Hurrah for Brian ! ” called some one in 
the crowd, and all the onlookers joined in a 
mighty cheer. 

“It ain’t nothin’ but animals,” said a tearful 
woman, “ but he ’d have done just the same if 
it had been young ones. I *d trust my kids 
to a man who would n’t let even a kitten 
burn 1 ” 

And meanwhile Brian was making a most 
amazing discovery. 

“ It ’s our cat ! It ’s Abraham’s orphan I ” 
he called, holding Pandora up for Henry to 
126 


FRIENDS TO THE RESCUE 


see ; and one of the other firemen said, “ Well, 
you got your reward all right this time.** 

“ He *s saved the mascot ! Bully for Brian ! ** 
said Henry, laughing in surprise and delight. 

But how the dickens did they get hold of 
our cat ? If those folks were n*t out I *d make 
it hotter for them than the fire did.** 

But by this time the fire engines had done their 
work, and the Lawrences* flat did not burn, 
although the smoke would have killed the 
animals if they had stayed there a few minutes 
longer. 

‘‘We *11 take charge of the parrot and the 
kitten,** said a neighbor. “ Upon my word I 
feel guilty to have forgotten them. Charley 
would have cried his eyes out if anything had 
happened to Robby and Rosa. But that other 
cat is n*t theirs. That *s a stray.** 

“ Allow me to correct you, madam,** said 
Brian, raising his helmet. “ That kitten is the 
head and chief member of the hook-and~ladder 
company at No. 6 — Columbus Avenue, basely 
decoyed from her home. If it had n*t been for 
127 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


this fortunate incident of the fire we might 
never have seen her again/’ 

Henry turned the horses around, and Brian 
swung on behind the ladders, with Pandora in 
his pocket. The bell sounded, the sparks flew 
from under the horses’ feet, and the truck drove 
slowly back up the avenue, followed by a pro- 
cession of small boys. 

“ We ’ve broken our rules for you, though, 
young lady,” said Brian, rubbing Pandora’s 
head with rough tenderness. Only yesterday 
Henry was telling that fish-eyed boy we did n’t 
carry passengers on this truck.” 

‘‘Passengers?” repeated Henry, turning 
round with a grin. “ Why, that cat ain’t a pas- 
senger. She ’s the boss of this force I ” 


128 


LITTLE ARBUTUS 


CHAPTER ELEVEN 

LITTLE ARBUTUS 

T he next day people read in the 
paper how the hook-and-ladder 
company of a certain district had 
lost its mascot, and found it again 
in the window of a burning building. 

“It was that fish-eyed boy who took her, 
I ’m sure,*' said Henry. “ I doubt if he 
hangs around here much more." 

And indeed the blond little boy never dared 
put his unpleasant face inside the truck-house 
again, because he somehow received the im- 
pression that he was not wanted. 

“ Do you know, it was rather fun riding 
on the truck the other day," said Pandora to 
Candy. “ I think I shall try it again." 

“ I would n't if I were you," said Candy. 
“You're too small." 


9 


129 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


But of course this only made Pandora more 
determined to do it, as no child likes to be 
told that lack of age and size should interfere 
with any plan one chooses to make. So she 
sought out certain empty holes in among the 
ladders, and one day when she was curled up 
there an alarm sounded. 

Bang ! went the doors of the box stalls. 
Clip, clip, clip, came the eager hoofs, and 
down rattled the harness, followed by many 
legs from the room above. Clang — rush — 
gallop ! and the truck was off. 

“Hi — yi — fire!*' yelled the small boys, 
starting after it with hopeful feet that were 
soon left far behind. 

“ Ow-wow ! ” wailed Pandora, as the truck 
rounded a corner, for riding among the lad- 
ders was very different from riding in Brian’s 
soft pocket. 

“Cat’s aboard!” called somebody, with a 
laugh. But Henry’s eyes never left his rush- 
ing horses, and he did not smile. Near one 
of the Park entrances a nurse was wheeling a 
130 


LITTLE ARBUTUS 


little crippled boy in a chair. Her eyes were 
turned in another direction, and the tooting 
of an automobile drowned the sound of the 
approaching bell. 

Clang ! clang ! it went, but neither the nurse 
nor the child looked around, and in order to 
save them Henry drove his horses straight 
into the stone coping with a crash that threw 
every fireman to the street. 

The woman screamed and hurried out of 
the way with her chair, and the child began to 
cry at the sight of the three horses tangled in a 
frightened heap. 

Cut the traces ! cut the traces ! ** shouted 
Henry, who, being strapped to his seat, was 
on the only man left on the truck. And as the 
bruised firemen picked themselves up they ran 
to the horses’ heads, and kept them quiet until 
the harness could be unfastened. 

Then Abraham and Addie May struggled 
to their feet, and stood trembling in the midst 
of the wreck. But the gentle Candy did not 
rise, for his days of usefulness as nursemaid 

131 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


and as fireman were over. It was found that 
he had a broken leg. 

“ Get back there, get back ! called the 
policemen to the crowd, as the truck was freed 
and the two remaining horses reharnessed. 



‘‘ What are you going to do ? asked some 
one, breathlessly. 

“ Going to the fire,” said Henry, grimly. 
“ What are we here to do ? ” And stopping 
132 


LITTLE ARBUTUS 


only a second to stroke poor Candy’s nose, 
the men rattled off on their errand of rescue. 

“What will you do with the horse?” asked 
a man with a very pale face, who had joined 
the nurse and the lame child. 

“Shoot him,” said the policeman. “He’s 
crippled, you see. He can never run again.” 

“ Papa 1 Papa I ” cried the little boy. “ This 
poor horse is like me. He can never run 
again. But you won’t let them shoot him ? ” 

“ How much is the horse worth ? ” asked the 
man, taking out his purse. 

“Nothing, sir, if you care to keep him. 
But he ’s quite useless now. It ’s a cruelty to 
let him live.” 

“ I don’t know about that,” said Mr. 
Homer. “ I have a farm up in the country 
where he could do light work after his leg is 
set, and get lots of enjoyment out of life. I ’ll 
keep the horse, please. He saved my boy 
from being killed. Can you telephone to a 
good veterinary for me? ” 

The policeman pocketed his dollar and 

133 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


hurried away, while the crowd cheered, and 
little John was wheeled up in his chair to com- 
fort his injured friend. 

“ I love you because you are lame,” he 
whispered, looking down into Candy’s sad 
eyes. And Candy whinnied lovingly in return. 

Soon the horse-doctor came, with splints 
and a queer-shaped cart, on which Candy was 
taken away. And the crippled child followed 
the crippled horse down the avenue with 
understanding eyes. 

When the collision occurred. Pandora had 
been thrown over the wall into the park, and was 
now lying under a bush, nursing a bruised paw. 

‘‘ There are three of us now,” she thought, 

but Candy and I are both better off than the 
boy, because he has n’t an extra set of legs.” 

She kept out of sight, watching the children 
at play, and the squirrels who ran up to beg 
for peanuts. But nobody came to look for 
her, and she began to wonder if Brian and 
Henry had forgotten that they owned a cat. 
The truth was that there had been a big fire on 

134 


LITTLE ARBUTUS 


the East Side, and when the truck started back 
it was too dark to stop and look for disobedi- 
ent kittens. The next morning Henry went 
to the place of the accident and hunted every- 
where, but did not find their mascot because 
she had been carried away by a dear little girl, 
who had hurried through the park just as Pan- 
dora was beginning to give up all hopes of 
supper. 

This little girl had on pink stockings, which 
looked funny with her stout boots, and a lace 
scarf over her tightly crimped hair. 

Eile dich — eile dichT' the woman beside 
her was saying, and as this was the same lan- 
guage that Gottfried spoke. Pandora knew 
that the woman wanted the little girl to hurry. 

“ Oh, but the poor little kitty is lame,” the 
child said, stopping to examine Pandora's paw. 
“ I 'm going to take her to the theatre with 
me.” 

A lame cat to the theatre ! ” exclaimed the 
mother. “Will they let you in carrying a 
little street beggar ? ” 


US 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Oh, they ’ll have to, because I ’m the 
Queen of the Arbutus, and it can’t blossom 
without me.” 

‘‘ Little stupid ! ” said the mother. Well, 
I can’t blame you for the soft heart that I my- 
self gave you. But hide it well under your 
cape.” 

“ The heart, Mutterchen ? ” 

No, the cat; and come quickly or we lose 
our train.” 

They took the elevated, and transferred to 
one of the down-town theatres, where only the 
stage entrance showed any signs of life. 

‘‘ Here comes little Arbutus,” said a kind- 
looking woman, with painted cheeks. And a 
man with funny wrinkles around his eyes offered 
a stick of candy, saying, “ Here ’s a twinkle for 
the star.” 

What have you got there ? ” asked the 
property man, as little Arbutus unfastened her 
cloak. An understudy ? ” 

“ No, a leading lady,” said the child. “ Only 
she ’s dreadfully hungry.” 

136 


LITTLE ARBUTUS 



one of my sandwiches/* Which he proceeded 
to do, although it was very doubtful whether 
he did not need it more himself. 

“ Good-bye, Elsa,** said the mother of little 

137 


‘‘ That proves she belongs to the profession,** 
said the low comedian, laughing. “ 1 *11 give her 


A LEADING LADY 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Arbutus. “ Be a good girl, and at eleven 
o’clock I come for you.” 

‘‘ Oh, mother ! take good care of kitty.” 

“ She shall have sausage and milk — never 
fear ! ” And the kind-hearted woman hurried 
off, carrying Pandora, who would have much 
preferred to stay with little Arbutus, and see 
why pink stockings should make one a queen. 

But when she smelled the delicatessen shop 
that Mrs. Arbutus kept, her nose moved 
eagerly, and she leaped to the marble counter 
where stood bowls of pickles, slabs of boiled 
tongue, and fish swimming in luscious pans of 
oil. 

Nein ! thou shalt have sausage, for so I 
told the child,” said the woman. And when 
Pandora had feasted she was carried upstairs to 
lie on the bed of a little boy who was not lame, 
like the one in the park, but seemed to be 
recovering from an illness. 

“ Good evening,” she purred in German, rub- 
bing her nose against his cheek. But he did 
not notice anything unusual about the purr, 
138 


LITTLE ARBUTUS 


and only smiled at her in the language that 
every one understands. 

‘‘ Ach^ mein Liebchen, thou hast been so long 
alone 1 ” said his mother. ‘‘ But it could not 
be otherwise, since Frieda could not stop for 
Elsa to-night.” 

“ What a beautiful little cat, mother. Is 
this my cat?” 

“ Thine and thy Elsa's ; she would have it 
so. It was homeless and crying in the park.” 

“ I am glad,” said little Fritz. “ She will 
talk to me while you work in the shop.” 

Just then a customer came in, and Frau 
Wurstrauber hurried downstairs to sell some 
pot cheese and herrings. When she returned 
she bandaged Pandora's paw so that the swell- 
ing felt much better ; and little Fritz went to 
sleep with the kitten purring on his shoulder. 

He did not know when his mother stole out 
to go down after Elsa, but he heard them come 
in, and sat up in bed, asking, Oh, sister, did 
they clap to-night ? Did they call you before 
the curtain, and did you make a little bow ? ” 

139 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ They called her three times/* said the 
mother, proudly. ‘‘ She was a great success, and 
the manager has engaged her to be child in 
his new play — ‘ Snowed-In * — which they re- 
hearse to-morrow. And look what she brings 
you ! ** 

Little Arbutus ran forward with her arms 
full of beautiful roses which she laid on Fritz’s 
bed. They are for thee,” she said. 

You did n’t take the hard-earned money 
to buy them ? ” asked the boy in distress. 

“ No, they were brought to me with a lady’s 
card, and something written on it that was so 
sweet and sad. Listen ; it says : ‘For the 
little girl who looks like a little girl who was 
once my own.’ Does that mean that she died, 
mamma ? ” 

“ God knows,” said Elsa’s mother. “ But it 
means that she wished to give you happiness.” 

The two children were soon asleep. Fritz 
was used to waking when Elsa came home, to 
ask if she had made a little bow. And Elsa 
was as sweetly weary as a real flower fairy, who 
140 


LITTLE ARBUTUS 


curls inside a rose, instead of a bed in a dark 
little flat, where the elevated trains rush past 
from morning till night. 

But early the next day she was down in the 
shop helping her mother tie up packages, and 
ladle out milk for the people who came with 
little pails. Pandora was allowed to help too, 
although her ideas of helping were rather 
strange, and sometimes led her to jump into the 
scales while things were being weighed, or dip 
her paw in the bowls of little fish floating in 
brine. 

‘‘ Now you must be Elsa till I come back,’* 
said the child, kissing Pandora’s nose. ‘‘ I ’m 
going to rehearse the new play.” And when 
she returned it was past noon. 

Mother ! ” she cried, running in joyfully, 
‘‘ the play is beautiful ! It is on an old farm, and 
there is a grandpa and a grandma, and I am 
the only little girl. My mother was a lady 
dancer who ran away from home, — and oh, 
mother ! they say they want a cat ! I told them 
about this one, and they said if she turned out 
141 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


to be a good actress they ’d pay us a dollar a 
week more/* 

“ Splendid ! fine ! She will make good money 
for us/* said Mrs. Wurstrauber, in delight. 
“ Look, my child, the paw is almost well.** 
And so Pandora entered upon her career as 
a “ leading lady.** 


142 


LITTLE JOHN 


CHAPTER TWELVE 

LITTLE JOHN 

S N*T it time to go yet, Winnie ? ” 

■ asked John for the fifteenth time that 
morning. And Winnie answered pa- 
tiently, “No, Master John. Mr. 
O’ Rafferty said the horses don’t be coming 
out before twelve.” 

“ But I want to see Candy first, and take 
him an apple.” 

“ Oh, well, then, we might be starting along. 
I ’ll ring for Donald.” And presently John’s 
chair was wheeled into the elevator, and he 
was carried down where his own little victoria 
was waiting, with Donald and the bay horse 
who took him to ride every day. 

“You’re a fat horse, Edward,” he said. 
“ You ’re not a hero like Candy. You ’re only 
a common fat horse.” 


143 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Shure, we can’t all be heroes,” said 
Winnie, warmly. “Is n’t it some credit to any 
of us if we go where we ’re drove ? ” 

Winnie was John’s old nurse who had been 
with him from babyhood, and so kind-hearted 
that she did not like to hear even a horse 
called fat. The maid whose carelessness had 
nearly cost John his life had been discharged. 

“ Yes, some of us don’t go where we ’re 
driven, do we?” said John. “We just lie 
down and snore.” 

“ Here ’s Mr. Candy’s hotel,” said Winnie, as 
the carriage stopped at the horse-doctor’s house. 

“And there’s Brian coming out. He’s 
been to see him too,” said John, in delight. 

“ ’Deed and I have,” said Brian, beaming as 
he lifted John from his seat. “ Candy’s leg ’s 
so well that he nearly kicked me with it. Yes, 
sir! You got a cheap horse on that deal. 
Master John.” 

“ I *m going to ride him in the country,” 
said John, as Brian carried him to the stable. 
“ Papa ’s having a special saddle made.” 

144 


LITTLE JOHN 


Candy whinnied a welcome as he recognized 
his friends, but refused to eat the apple that 
John had brought. 

“Haven't you anything sweet with you?" 
asked Brian, shamefacedly. “ You see we boys 
have kind of spoiled him." 

“ There’s a candy store across the street," 
said John to Winnie. “ What kind does he 
like best, Brian ? " 

“ Well, I don’t know. About how much 
do you want to spend ? ’’ 

“ I have n’t but ten cents with me. Master 
John," said Winnie. 

“ Well, if you want to go in for that amount, 
I should say five cents’ worth of caramels, 
mostly chocolate, and some peanut sticks and 
jaw-breakers — cinnamon preferred." 

“No chewing gum? ’’ asked John, seriously, 
as Winnie departed. 

“No; it wouldn’t look well when you’re 
riding him. A horse that chews gives the 
impression of bein’ awful careless." 

When Winnie returned Candy ate the jaw- 
145 


10 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


breakers with great crunches and explosions, 
very different from the sucking process for 
which they were intended, and waited with 
pointed ears while the paper was taken from 
the caramels. 

“The Vet says he’ll be able to travel 
to-morrow,” said Brian. 

“It’s meself that doubts it,” said Winnie, 
decidedly. “ Not after atin’ all that stuff.” 

“ Well, we *d better run around to the 
truck-house now,” said Brian. “ There ’s other 
horses and their friends waiting to see you.” 

“ You must ride in the carriage, Brian.” 

“ Thank you. Master John. I ’ll jump up 
here on the box.” 

“ No, you must sit with us. You can hold 
me just as you ’re doing now. I read about 
you in the paper, Brian, and how you rescued 
a parrot and two cats, and were a hero.” 

“ He ’s great on findin’ heroes,” said Winnie, 
as Brian burst out laughing. 

“Well, there’s one kind he seems to have 
overlooked,” said Brian, patting the child’s 
146 


LITTLE JOHN 


hand. ‘‘ And that *s the sort that bears all 
sorts of pain and says nothing about it/’ 

‘‘Why, what is there to say ?” asked John, 
in surprise. “ Pain is n’t interesting. And 
besides, I ’m used to it.” 

When they reached the truck-house the 
whole company ran out to shake hands with 
the new arrivals, and then disappeared up- 
stairs, so that when the bell rang there were 
ever so many legs to come sliding down. 
Some of them even put in an extra wave or 
two on John’s account; and when the three 
splendid horses came trotting out, he was so 
pleased that he shouted and dug his heels into 
Brian’s stomach until he howled for mercy. 

“ You are all heroes ! ” he exclaimed. 
“ Look in here, you great fat Edward, and see 
these three hero horses and be ashamed of 
your fat ordinary brains ! ” 

“ That ’s the new horse, beside Abraham,” 
said Henry. “He is n’t quite broken in yet.” 

“ Oh, have you found your kitten ? ” asked 
John. 


147 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


‘‘ No, she has n’t turned up and we ’re going 
to get a new one. Abraham sleeps so cold we 
have to put an extra blanket on him.” 

“ Do come up and see me — all of you, and 
spend the night,” said John, earnestly, when 
Winnie insisted that it was time to go. 
“ Bring the horses and the new cat. The 
horses could sleep with me. I ’ve got a big 
bed.” And all the firemen crowded around 
again to shake hands with the smallest of the 
heroes, as he drove away. 

“ Professor Van Camp is here to luncheon, 
sir,” said the butler, when John reached home. 
“ Your father said you were to come right in.” 

‘‘ Oh, hurray ! Put me in my chair quick. 
Are they at table?” asked John, eagerly, for 
Professor Van Camp was his dearest chum. 

“ Hello, old man,” said the Professor, rising, 
as the little chair was wheeled into the room. 
“ It ’s an age since we ’ve met.” 

“ Hello, Harold,” said John, holding out his 
hand. The time has dragged heavily for me 
as well.” 


148 


LITTLE JOHN 


Both men laughed, and Mr. Homer said, 
‘‘ It "s a pity that he can*t play more with other 
children.” 

Besides me, you mean,” said the Professor, 
with a wink. And John chuckled at the 
memory of certain games invented, and beau- 
tiful loud noises complained of by the people 
below. 

“ There ’s a kid in our house that you ought 
to know,” said the Professor, thoughtfully. 

His name 's Gideon, and he reminds me of 
you.” 

Is he lame too ? ” asked John. 

‘‘ No, but he does n't get much more fun 
than if he was. He lives with a stiff, adopted 
aunt, who won't let him do anything he wants 
to. Of course she 's a noble woman, but not 
the kind for children to live with.” 

“ I wonder why she adopted him,” said Mr. 
Homer. 

Nobody has ever dared ask, but it could n't 
possibly have been because she wanted him.” 

“ Why is he like me ? ” asked John. 

149 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ Because he thinks, things out for himself, 
and has his own ideas, instead of borrowing 
other people's. That *s what makes you dif- 
ferent from most boys, John — not because 
you 're lame." 

‘‘ Can't Gideon come and spend a day with 
John soon ? Or would the aunt interfere? " 

“ She would n't be likely to consent, but I 
have another plan." 

‘‘What is it?" asked John, looking disap- 
pointed. 

“ Gideon and I are going down town to buy 
Christmas presents one afternoon next week." 

“ That'll be nice for Gideon," said John, in 
rather a small voice. 

“ And I want Daddy to let you come with 
us." 

“ Oh, how could I ? Would you wheel 
me? " asked John, eagerly. 

“We would take the chair down to one of 
the big department stores, where they have a 
Santa Claus and a concert and ice-cream. Were 
you ever in one ? " 


LITTLE JOHN 


‘‘ No, never, never ! Winnie and Edward and 
I drive down to Schwartz’s and buy our toys and 
then we come home. Nothing ever happens. 
Oh, Harold ! could we perhaps go to the place 
where they say, ^ Meet me at the fountain ’ ? ” 

“ We ’ll do the whole show.” 

“ Say, Van Camp, that ’ll be too much 
trouble for you,” said Mr. Homer. How 
can you wheel that chair through the Christmas 
crowds ? ” 

‘‘ Just the way I ’d wheel it anywhere else. 
Gideon will go ahead and kick the shins of 
people who get in our way.” 

“ You ’re a brick ! ” exclaimed Mr. Homer, 
warmly. And John said, No, he ’s the whole 
wall.” 

So on the appointed day, Gideon and Harold 
and John drove down town behind the fat 
Edward, with John’s chair up in front beside 
Donald, and stopped at the place where they 
meet you at the fountain. 

I ’ve got seventy-four cents,” said Gideon, 
quite hoarse with excitement, " and I have n’t 

151 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


many folks to buy presents for, so I ought to 
get something handsome for ’em all.” 

Fifty cents of this was what Annabel had 
given him for Hominy, and the rest he had 
earned. 

I have n’t many people, either,” said John, 
in wonder, remembering the fifty dollars that 
his father had given him to spend. Only 
Papa, and Winnie, and the other servants, 
and — ” here he whispered loudly in Gideon’s 
ear — “ Harold. I always send things to the 
hospital children too, because they like them, 
and it ’s fun to pick them out.” 

Here we go,” said Gideon, holding open 
the door, and John’s chair was pushed into 
what seemed to him a city of shop counters 
and Christmas greens. “ Oh, look at the silver 
things, and the handkerchiefs with the lions’ 
heads on ’em, and the holly candy boxes ! ” he 
exclaimed. 

Oh, that ’s nothing,” said Gideon, grandly, 
pretending not to be impressed. “ Wait till 
you see the fountain.” 


152 


LITTLE JOHN 


“ Have you seen it ? ” asked John, in awed 
tones. 

“Well, no,’* admitted Gideon, reluctantly. 
“ I ain’t, but I ’m goin’ to.” 

“ Who do we meet at the fountain ? ” asked 
John, as his chair took a triumphant course 
past the cotillon favors, to the collars. 

“ Nobody that we know, I ’m afraid,” said 
the Professor. “ Look, boys ! Are n’t those 
bully neckties for eight cents ? ” 

“ Do you really like them ? ” asked Gideon, 
eagerly. “ What ’s your favorite color, Mr. 
Harold ? ” 

“ I think that pink one with the purple 
roses,” he said, laughing. But noticing the 
meaning look that passed between the boys, 
he added hastily, “No, I prefer the plain dark 
red.” 

“ The claret-colored,” whispered John to 
Gideon. 

“ What ’s claret ? ” asked Gideon. “ Is it a 
kind of dog ? ” 

“No, it’s a kind of wine,” said John, in 

153 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


astonishment. Does n’t your aunt drink 
wine when she ’s sick ? ” 

“ No, she just sits and hollers. I ’ll sneak 
back and get the tie now, shall I ? ” 

“ I ’ll invert his mind,” said John. “ Oh, 
Harold ! see that mirror with the painted 
spinach on it ! ” 

“ Beautiful 1 ” said the Professor. 

“ And the man that draws a lady’s picture 
on her own necktie for a nickel ! Three for 
a dime ! ” 

“ Wonderful ! ” said Harold. 

“ I just went back to look at some- 
thing,” said Gideon, carelessly, rejoining them. 

There ’s a fine display of visiting cards.” 
“Yes, there’s lots to see,” said Harold. 
“ Whom are you going to buy presents for, 
Gideon ? — when it comes time to buy them, I 
mean.” ' 

And John whispered proudly in Gideon’s 
ear, “ He does n’t suspect ! ” 

“ I thought of a turn-over collar for Miss 
Annabel, worked in four-leaved clovers. It’ll 
154 


LITTLE JOHN 


remind her of Hominy. They cost a quar- 
ter.” 

‘‘ A fine idea,” said the Professor. ‘‘ Clovers 
are so much more graceful, embroidered, than 
cabbages. Don't you think so ? ” 

“ Oh, see the big statue of Liberty ! ” said 
John, ‘‘wading in a pond.” 

“That's the fountain,” said Harold. 

“ And lots of people eating ice-cream,” said 
Gideon. “Oh, Mr. Harold! that's what 
‘liberty’ means.” 

“We haven’t got liberty yet, have we?” 
suggested John. 

“ No, but we can smell it,” said Gideon, 
gazing as if he never intended to move again. 

“ I want some ice-cream,” said the Professor 
suddenly, as if the idea had just struck him. 

“ What kind do you think you 'll have ? ” 
asked Gideon, respectfully. 

“ Well, I shall want at least three saucers, 
and you can say what the first shall be.” 

“ Chocolate and vanilla,” said Gideon, with a 
widening smile. 


155 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ And the second one, John ? ” 

“ Strawberry and moustache.” 

‘‘ Pistache, John, and strawberry *11 make 
you sick.** 

‘‘ Ten cents pays for the round trip, even if 
it does,** said Gideon, placidly. 

The ice-cream arrived in little cones of in- 
viting sweetness, and John said, “ I *m going 
to eat the top off mine first — are you ? ** 

No, 1 *m going to scoop mine out under- 
neath till it caves in, smash ! and then I can 
begin all over again.** 

Oh, what a pretty little girl ! ** said John, 
stopping, with his spoon in the air. 

“ Why, I know her,** said Gideon, turning 
very red. “ It *s Eunice Wood, who came to 
the party, and that *s her brother Kenneth with 
her. He likes rabbits. I *m goin* to speak to 
*em — no I ain’t. They won’t remember me.” 

‘‘ I *11 speak to them,” said the Professor, 
rising. But at that minute Kenneth broke 
away from his mother, and, running towards 
them, called, “ Hello, Gid ! ** 

156 


LITTLE JOHN 


“Hello, Kenneth! Hello, Eunice!” said 
the Professor. “ How do you do, Mrs. 
Wood? I suppose this means Christmas 
shopping.” 

“ I should say it did,” said Mrs. Wood, 
shaking hands. “ And the worst of it is that 
the children are buying my present. They 
make me stand with my back turned most 
of the time, and then keep asking me how 
much they ought to spend on me.” 

“ Come shopping with us,” said the Pro- 
fessor, cordially. “We 're off on a lark. This 
is little John Homer. I want you to know 
him,’ all of you. He 's our kind.” 

“ I 'm delighted to know John,” said Mrs. 
Wood, shaking hands again, “ and Gideon too. 
Eunice has told me about him.” 

“ Won't you have some ice-cream ? ” asked 
the Professor. 

“ I was just wondering how long it would be 
before you thought of it,” sighed Kenneth, in 
relief. 

“ For shame, Kenny ! ” said his mother, but 

157 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


as she caught the Professor’s eye they both 
laughed. 

“ Let ’s move to this larger table,” he said. 
‘‘Now I’ll give you a conundrum to guess. 
What’s better on a shopping tour than three 
little boys ? ” 

“ Four little boys,” said Kenneth, blissfully. 

“No, one little girl,” he said, laying his hand 
on Eunice’s hair. And looking up brightly, 
she added, “ So now the only thing that we 
really need to make the party complete is a 
cat!” 


158 


THE PERFUMERY GARDEN 


CHAPTER THIRTEEN 

THE PERFUMERY GARDEN 

T his side up I called the elevator 
man, as John's chair was wheeled 
into the big cage. 

“ This side up ! Well, I should 
say so,” said Gideon, finding Eunice a seat. 
‘‘ Did he expect us to stand on our heads ? ” 
“ Books, ladies' underwear, photographic 
supplies, house-furnishings, toys — '' 

“ You can stop right here,'' said Gideon, as 
the elevator man went on repeating his piece. 
“ It 's toys we 're after.” 

“ Let 'em out, please. Goin' up I ” said the 
man, as the boys cleared a space for John's 
chair through the crowd. 

“ Toys ? This way, madam.” And the floor- 
walker pointed to a dazzling corner from which 
came the sound of puffing engines, squealing 
lambs, and music-boxes, varied by gurgles, 

159 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


laughter, and an occasional wail from somebody 
whose nap-time had come. 

“ There ’s a wind-up rabbit. See it hop ! 
exclaimed Gideon, in delight. And Kenneth 
whispered to his mother, Can’t we buy it for 
him ? His aunt won’t let him keep live 
ones.” 

‘‘ No, but wind-up hops cost ever so much 
more than real ones, Kenny dear. He would n’t 
want any one to spend two dollars on just a 
baby’s toy.” 

“ Is n’t that funny ! ” said Kenneth. You 
know, mother, in a live rabbit the hop is the 
cheapest part. It ’s just thrown in with the 
rest without extra charge. It does n’t make 
it cost too much to buy, like long fur or fancy 
ears.” 

Eunice led Gideon to a pile of toy kitchens, 
saying : “ Are n’t these sweet ? You could 
make a real fire in ’em if your mother ’d let 
you.” 

“ I don’t care much for cooking,” he con- 
fessed. But when John, in response to a 
i6o 


THE PERFUMERY GARDEN 


prodigious wink, had called Eunice away, Gid- 
eon bought and smuggled one of those kitchens 
under his coat — for the price, oh, joy to tell it ! 
was only fifteen cents. 

“ Turnips 1 I did n’t know frying pans were 
so sharp ! ” he exclaimed to himself, as the little 
tin dishes chafed his ribs. 

“ Won’t you help me pick out some dolls 
for the hospital children? ” John asked Eunice. 
“ And see that their — their clothes, you know, 
are nice.” 

The clerk laid out a row of sweet- faced 
dollies, and Eunice lifted their accordion pleated 
skirts to see if the little underclothes were all 
properly trimmed. Lace on every one,” she 
said, drawing a long breath. “ Are you really 
going to buy some of these ? ” 

“ I ’m going to buy them all,” he said, taking 
out his purse. And Eunice gasped, for there 
were twenty dollies, and, having such nice 
clothes, the price was a dollar and a quarter 
apiece. 

“It makes me almost wish I were a hospital 

i6i 


II 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


child,” she thought. ‘‘ Not the broken-legged 
kind, but something short, like croup. ’T would 
be worth having croup, or even measles, to 
get one of these dollies.” 

“ Now I want one more,” said John. ‘‘ The 
very prettiest doll that you have. It 's for a 
friend of my own.” 

“Will you just step this way?” asked the 
clerk, and Eunice herself wheeled John’s chair 
over to a separate show-case, where, standing 
alone with outstretched hands, stood a big, big 
dolly the size of a two-year-old child, but more 
beautiful than any child Eunice had ever seen. 

“ See her brown eyes and her spireal curls ! ” 
she cried, “ and her fluffy dress with the 
embroidered guimpe, and her darling starched 
bonnet.” 

“ A very nice doll, my little lady,” said the 
man. “ It ’s a Parisian model.” 

“ Oh, no,” said Eunice. “ I think it must 
be a stuffed truly little girl. And such a nice, 
particular looking dress. Her father and mother 
must have been ladies.” 

162 


THE PERFUMERY GARDEN 


“ I 'll take that one, please,*’ said little John. 
You have n’t asked the price,” suggested 
the clerk, with a smile. 

‘‘ Well, I won’t pay for it now. You can 
have it charged to papa. He said I might do 
that if the money gave out.” 

‘‘ Who is papa? ” asked the clerk, uncertainly. 
“ Shall we send it C. O. D. ? ” 

“ Mr. John B. Homer is papa,” said John, 
Jr., “ and we live — ” 

“ Pardon me, but we know the address. Is 
there anything else we can show you to-day ? ” 
Not to-day, I think, thank you.” And 
Eunice cast adoring looks after the beautiful 
doll, who gazed back at her with soft eyes. 

“ Oh, how happy that little girl will be ! ” she 
sighed; and John smiled wisely to himself, as 
one who does not tell all that he knows. 

After this there was a great deal of deception, 
and getting people to look the other way while 
packages were hurried out of sight; and then 
they all went to another end of the store, where 
a big Santa Claus was wagging his head regularly 
163 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


to the tune of ‘‘ Teasing, teasing, I was only 
teasing you.” The singing really came from a 
phonograph in Santa's stomach, but it sounded 
exactly as if it fell out of his mouth. 

“ I Ve got Grandma's present at last,'' said 
Kenneth, returning from a brief excursion. 
‘‘ It 's an ash-tray. Don't you think she 'll like 
it?'' 

“ Grandma does n't smoke,'' said Eunice, 
disapprovingly. 

“ No, but she can use it to keep pins in, can't 
she ? '' he asked in such a warlike tone that 
Eunice subsided. And Gideon said, “ Those 
two little raised gilt guinea-pigs in the middle 
are awful handsome, are n't they ? '' 

‘‘ / thought so,'' said Kenneth, still casting 
hostile glances at Eunice, “ but some people 
have n't any taste.” 

I smell something lovely,*' said John, 
changing the subject. “ There 's a little girl 
putting perfumery on a lady's handkerchief.” 

‘‘ What lots of big bottles ! ” said Eunice. 
“ She fills the little bottles out of them, and 
164 


THE PERFUMERY GARDEN 


then puts them in boxes tied up with ribbon — 
see ! 

‘‘ I want to smell too/' said Kenneth, making 
his way to the show-case. “ Say, little girl, 
how much is it for a smell of all those bot- 
tles ? " 

“ Nothing at all. Jump up here on my 
stool,” she said with a smile. And Kenneth 
blew steaming breaths into each bottle by turn 
until his mother plucked him down. 

Me next,” said Eunice, scrambling up in 
his place. 

“ I want to smell of two at a time,” said 
John, ‘‘and see which side of my nose is 
loudest.” 

“How can you tell?” asked the Professor, 
laughing, as two small bottles were handed 
down. 

“Why,” said John, “the best side of my 
nose will come out ahead.” And after two or 
three long sniffs he called out, “ Violet ! ” 

“That's on the left side,” said the girl. 
“ The other one was rose.” 

165 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“Then my left nose wins/' said John, 
seriously. ^‘It's a pity we didn't bet on it." 

“ It smells just like a garden here, does n’t 
it ? " said Eunice. 

“ I call it my garden," said the little sales- 
girl. “ Papa and mamma came from England, 
and had a garden there, but I 've never seen 
one, so I pretend that this is mine. You see 
we have so many different kinds of perfume 
that when I shut my eyes I can imagine they 
are all growing. And sometimes the pictures 
come on the outside of the bottles, so I can 
tell what the flowers look like, too." 

“ Violets, and roses, and lilies of the valley," 
read Eunice from the labels, “ and musk and 
carnation and Jockey Club. What kind of a 
flower is a Jockey Club?" 

“ Oh, not a flower at all. Mother says it *s 
just a name. But I think it smells like a 
whole big bouquet." 

“ Is the musk made of muskrats ? " asked 
Kenneth. “ It does n't smell like a white rat." 

‘‘ Let 's look up the musk-ox when we go 

i66 


THE PERFUMERY GARDEN 


home,” said the Professor, laughing. ‘‘And 
meanwhile I *11 get some white lilac for 
Annabel.** 

While the salesgirl was putting up a dainty 
bottle with a little spray of the lilac on it, the 
Professor asked where she lived, and if there 
were other children in the family. 

“ There are four of us now,** she said, “ but 
the others are n*t old enough to work yet.** 

“And do you think you*re old enough to 
work all day?** 

“ I *m thirteen,** she said proudly ; “ and the 
work is n*t very hard — except in hot weather, 
of course. And even then,** she added with a 
smile, “ you see I *m working in a garden.** 

Little John had been listening eagerly while 
they talked, and when they had all said good- 
bye, and thanked the child for her kindness, he 
whispered in the Professor*s ear. 

“ Let *s ! ** said Harold, in delight. “ She 
told me where she lived.** So they went down 
to the main floor, where a man was selling 
potted plants, and ordered a geranium and 
167 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


some hyacinths and ferns to be sent to the 
little girl who had never seen a real garden* 

“Won’t she be surprised!” cried the chil- 
dren, in delight ; and the flower man said, “ I 
just guess she will. That address you gave me 
is in one of the poorest districts in New York. 
There ain’t too many flowers growin’ there.” 

“ I ’m afraid we must be going now,” said 
Mrs. Wood, reluctantly. “ But this has been 
the nicest shopping trip we ever had. Has n’t 
it, children ? ” 

“ Oh, mother 1 don’t go,” they cried. 
“ Let ’s meet again at the fountain.” 

“ I wish you ’d come home with me instead,” 
said John, as Eunice slipped her hand into his. 
“We need a little sister at our house.” 

But the little sister’s mother had to catch a 
train, so the two new friends were hurried 
away lamenting, while John was reassured with 
promises of another and a longer meeting. 

“ Nice kids, those,” said Gideon, mournfully, 
as he watched them depart. 

“ Nice kids, these, too,” said Harold, patting 

i68 


THE PERFUMERY GARDEN 


his shoulder; and Gideon looked up with a 
smile. 

“ I want to get something for Kenneth,” 
said John, decidedly. 

‘Ms that quite necessary ? ” asked the 
Professor. “ You Ve only just met him, you 
know.” 

“ Well, I have n*t any old friends, and just 
because a friend ’s new it does n't make him 
any the less your friend, does it ? ” 

“ Not if you like him a lot. What are you 
thinking of buying ? ” 

“ A white rabbit, I guess. He says he 's out 
of white rabbits.” 

“ There 's an animal department upstairs,” 
said Gideon, his eyes fairly standing out with 
excitement. “ If you feel tired or anything, I 
might go up and select it for you.” 

“Just what I was going to ask,” said John, 
cannily. “ If it would n't trouble you too 
much.” 

Gideon was darting away when John called 
him back to give him some money. 

169 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ Oh, it won't cost two dollars," Gideon 
said. ‘^You can get a real good rabbit for 
half that." 

“ Well, go along and pick it out," said John. 
And the minute that Gideon disappeared he 
turned to Harold, asking, ‘‘Now, what’ll we 
buy for him ? " 

“ Seems to me we *re pretty reckless to-day, 
are n't we ? " asked his companion. 

“ Dad said I might," said John, with shining 
eyes. “ What would Gideon like ? I ordered 
one of those toy rabbits for a joke, but of 
course that does n't count." 

“ Well, I think some nice books and a little 
shelf to put them on. Gideon's a great 
reader." 

So they went to the book department and 
ordered a little “ Encyclopedia of Common 
Things," “Tanglewood Tales," Bulfinch's “Age 
of Fable," and some “ first rate" Indian and 
sea stories. And as they returned to the start- 
ing place, they found Gideon looking for them 
with a white Angora rabbit in his arms. 

170 


THE PERFUMERY GARDEN 


‘‘ It costs two and a half,” he said breath- 
lessly. “ But I thought I M just let you look 



at it. The man said I might. There are 
others, black ones, for seventy-five cents.” 

“That one’ll do,” said John, handing out 
another half dollar ; and Gideon gasped, think- 
171 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


ing what a thing it was to go shopping with a 
prince to whom cost was nothing. But he 
remembered having once read a story called 
‘‘ The Little Lame Prince,” that was very 
sad indeed ; so perhaps money was not of 
much use, after all, to one who could not 
walk. 

Why would n’t you like a rabbit yourself?” 
asked the Professor, suddenly, as Gideon placed 
Kenneth’s present on John’s knee. 

“ Oh, they do nothing but hop,” he said 
wearily. ‘‘ And they won’t play with a fellow. 
I haven’t seen anything I really wanted to-day, 
except a little sister like Eunice Wood.” 

When he reached home that afternoon his 
father asked: “Well, what was the nicest 
thing that happened ? ” 

“ I made three new friends,” said John, sit- 
ting gravely on his knee. 

“ And which did you like the best ? ” 

“ They were all pleasant,” he answered with 
dignity. “ ’Specially Gideon.” 

But after dinner when Mr. Homer went to 
172 


THE PERFUMERY GARDEN 


John’s room, he was astonished to see a life-size 
baby doll, fluffy and triumphant, sitting in the 
middle of the table. 

‘‘ Now does n’t that look as if there was a 
little sister in this house?” asked John, with 
pride. ‘‘ If you did n’t know, would n’t you 
be likely to think, ‘ Well, J. B. Homer must 
have two children, a boy and a girl ’ ? ” 

‘‘ I certainly should,” said his father, both 
puzzled and amused. “ But where ’s this child’s 
mother ? ” 

‘‘ She lives in Montrose,” said John, sadly, 
“ but just now I ’m pretending that she lives 
here.” And he glanced affectionately at a 
Christmas card with a kitty’s head on it, which 
bore the words, To Eunice Wood, from her 
true new friend, J. B. Homer, Jr.” 

‘‘The society of other children, — that’s 
what the poor little chap needed,” thought his 
father, as he went back to his study. “ Harold 
knew.” 

That night he tiptoed in as usual to look at 
John while he slept; and there beside the bed, 

173 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


with her white dress carefully spread out around 
her, sat the beautiful doll, her yellow curls 
gleaming in the dim light from the half-open 
door, her eyes smiling on John as lovingly as 
those of the little sister in his dream. 


174 


BEHIND THE FOOTLIGHTS 


CHAPTER FOURTEEN 

BEHIND THE FOOTLIGHTS 

UARTER past one ! ” called little 
■ ■ Arbutus, doing up the last package 

M of cream cheese in tin foil. Fritz, 
is Baby on your bed ? ” 

Already,’* he answered. “ I hope she brings 
home more flowers to-day.” 

Elsa danced in to kiss him and put Pandora 
in the little basket that was her private coupe 
to and from the theatre. Then Frieda, one of 
the “ walking ladies,” came for them, and they 
hurried to the elevated station. 

“ There *11 be a full house to-day ; you see if 
there is n’t,” said Elsa, ‘‘ because it ’s the last 
matinee before Christmas.” 

‘‘ That ’s just the reason why there won’t be,” 
said Frieda. “ Christmas week is the worst of 
the season for theatres.” But it seemed that 
a great many people must have done their 

175 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


shopping early this year, for the house and 
most of the boxes were filled. 

“There 's lots of kids in the audience to-day,*' 
said the stage manager, coming back from a 
peep-hole in the curtain. “ That *s Elsa's doing, 
and Baby's." 

“ Baby," as Pandora was now called, had 
been trained for her part in the simplest way 
possible. Just before it was time for her to go 
on, her basket was placed by a window, so that 
her little toes grew chilly enough to enjoy a 
warm place when it was found ; and when 
Grandpa, in the old kitchen scene, asked, 
“ Snowbird, where 's your kitten ? " she was 
allowed to run in before the audience, and, 
seeing a fire blazing on the hearth, made 
straight for it, just as a kitten does in her own 
home. 

“ Is n't that cunning ! see it curl up its 
paws," people whispered. “ She acts just as if 
she 'd been out in the snow." 

And presently she and Elsa — whose name 
in the play was “ Snowbird " — had a fine game 
176 


BEHIND THE FOOTLIGHTS 


on the rug with a string of spools, while the 
older people talked about her mother, the 
dancer, who had run away. In the second act 
Pandora was not to appear, so some of the 
walking ladies carried her off to their dressing- 
room, without heeding the rule that when not 
acting she should be kept in her basket. 

“ Let *s make her up,’* said one of the ac- 
tresses, seizing a “ hare’s foot.” “ Come, Baby, 
let me darken your eyebrows and rouge your 
pretty nose.” 

That ’s pink enough already,” objected 
some one else. Don’t make her look too 
bold.” 

‘‘ Oh, the footlights make everybody look 
pale. Hold her still, Maggie.” 

So they drew black rings around Pandora’s 
eyes, and deepened the color of her nose until 
it had quite a startling effect. Then they drew 
wrinkles in her white cheeks and let her go, 
laughing very hard at the funny circus-lady 
effect that she gave. 

“ Take it off before she goes into her basket, 
177 


12 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Maggie,” pleaded the other girl. “ We'll get 
into trouble.” 

But before they could remove the “ make- 
up,” the call-boy came in, saying, Josh Peters' 
speech is cut out. You come on next. Take 
your cue from Grandma, ‘ Have you seen 
Ellen?"' 

And in a terrible flurry the walking ladies 
ran out of the dressing-room, leaving Pandora 
free to wander behind the scenes at will. She 
was especially fond of walking along the “ grid- 
iron,” the place over the stage where drop-scenes 
are kept, ready to be let down when needed. 
And to-day she could look straight down on the 
stage, where poor Grandma, in her best Sunday 
clothes, was pleading with the runaway dancer 
to come home. “ Remember your child,” she 
was saying. “ Think of your motherless little 
one ! ” when suddenly a kitten dropped down 
from what appeared to be the sky over a 
crowded city street, and landed on Grandma's 
shoulder. 

The leading lady choked with something 
178 


BEHIND THE FOOTLIGHTS 


besides grief, and a man in the gallery called 
out, “ See, you don't have to go home now. 
Your little one 's come to you ! " 



“TURNED HER FANTASTIC LITTLE FACE TO THE AUDIENCE** 

‘‘Did they mean that? Was that part of 
the play ? " people were asking. But Grandma 
went right on with her speech, so presently the 
laughter stopped. It began again when Pan- 

179 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


dora sauntered to the front of the stage, and 
turned her fantastic little face to the audience. 

‘‘That nose ain’t genuine. She paints,” 
said an old lady, in such a loud whisper that 
everybody laughed harder than ever, and the 
actors were thankful when the curtain fell. 

“ Who let out that wretched little cat ? ” 
asked the manager, raging around through the 
dressing-rooms. But nobody seemed to know, 
and everybody was just as innocent of any 
knowledge concerning the painted nose. 

“ I can get it off with cold cream,” said 
Elsa. So in a few minutes Baby was pre- 
sentable again. 

In the next act the daughter comes back 
to the farm in disguise to see her child, and 
finds Snowbird playing in the woods with 
her kitten. Of course Pandora did this part 
very well, as it does not require any rehearsal 
to scramble up and down a painted tree, and 
claw the leaves from imitation plants. Snow- 
bird had only to wiggle anything in sight, to 
make the kitten pounce. 

i8o 


BEHIND THE FOOTLIGHTS 


“ Oh, is n’t she sweet ! is n’t she cunning ! ” 
came in childish whispers of delight from all 
over the house ; and Baby flirted her tail 
higher than ever, for what actress does not like 
applause ? 

Meanwhile the lady dancer was asking all 
about Grandpa and Grandma, and Snowbird 
was telling her that to-morrow there would be 
a May party, and she was to be the queen. 
This May dance was brought in especially for 
Elsa, as she had made such a hit ” as “ Queen 
of the Arbutus ” in the other play, and would 
wear the same costume. 

So when the May dance was given, and 
Pandora actually sat on top of the Maypole 
with a wreath of arbutus about her neck, while 
the children danced around her, the house went 
quite wild with delight. And as this is also 
the scene where the daughter is forgiven and 
comes home to stay, why — ‘"everybody lives 
happily ever after.” But the house was n’t 
half so much interested in the forgiven lady 
dancer, who was also the leading lady, as it 
i8i 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


was in the little girl and her kitten. And at 
the end of the play there were loud calls for 
Snowbird ! ” and Baby ! ” 

When little Arbutus went before the cur- 
tain, with the pink Mayflowers wreathed in 
her dress and hair, she looked so sweet that 
an old man handed up a basket of roses 
which had been brought for the leading lady. 
Then as the applause grew louder Baby 
came trotting out to see what it was all 
about. And you can imagine how the chil- 
dren laughed, and stamped, and refused to go 
home while that alluring little tail still waved 
its thanks. 

As Elsa bowed to right and left she saw a 
little lame boy in one of the boxes, watching her 
with eagerness and smiling at Baby, and when 
she turned to leave the stage a small bunch of 
half-wilted violets fell at her feet. It was 
little John's boutonniere which he had offered, 
rather than give nothing at all, for the perform- 
ance of Baby had pleased him more than any- 
thing that he had ever seen, and he thought 
182 



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BEHIND THE FOOTLIGHTS 


little Snowbird just as wonderful for a girl as 
Baby was for a cat. 

Did you see her bow to me ? ” he asked 
Winnie, in an excited whisper. ‘‘ She bowed 
just as low as she did for the man who gave 
her the roses. It was a beautiful bow.’* 

‘‘ *T was a pity Master Gideon could n’t have 
come with us,” said Winnie. And John put 
his hand sadly in the pocket which held 
Gideon’s letter, saying ; 

“ Dear John : Aunt thinks theatres are wicked. 
I don't myself. I think some things are wickeder. 
But I can't go to-day. I thank you for asking me. 

“ Your true friend, 

“ Gideon.” 

I think,” said John, seriously, and after 
much meditation, “ that it would be better if 
he had n’t that aunt.” 

‘‘That’s naughty. Master John,” said 
Winnie, “ to speak so.” 

“ Well, I won’t mention it again,” he said, 
“ but my opinion remains the same.” 

“ Papa,” he said at dinner that night, “ I ’ve 

183 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


met the nicest girl that I Ve seen in two days, 
and the best cat that I Ve met since I was 
born/* 

‘‘ Where is it ? ** asked his father, with inter- 
est, thinking of Christmas. 

It won’t do any good,” said John. I 
want it awfully, but it belongs to the theatre 
company.” 

“ Oh, yes, the trick cat at the Momus I 
Well, perhaps the company would sell it. 
Is n’t there anything else you want in your 
stocking besides that ? ” 

“Not a thing, I ’m afraid,” said John. 
“And I really don’t need the stocking. You 
know I don’t wear them out very fast.” 

The sight of those dancing children had 
reminded him of the fact that Maypoles and 
May dances were not for him — no, never, as 
long as he should live; and forgetting that 
his father was watching him he gave a little 
sigh. 

“ I ’ll offer them a hundred dollars for the 
cat,” thought Mr. Homer, at his wits* end ; for 
184 


BEHIND THE FOOTLIGHTS 


nothing seemed to him so dreadful as that a 
little boy should not want a great many things 
for Christmas. 

‘‘ May I send Arbutus some candy ? John 
asked, and his father’s face brightened as he 
answered : ‘‘ Of course you can ! We ’ll go to 
Huyler’s to-morrow.” 

When his note reached the theatre the 
company were in the middle of a rehearsal, and 
the manager read it aloud very crossly, adding : 

Well, of all the cheeky propositions that I 
ever struck ! J. B. Homer wants to buy 
Baby for his lame son — right in the middle 
of the season, with a good road business before 
us.” 

Everybody laughed but little Arbutus, who 
remembered the lame boy, and how wistful his 
eyes had been. 

“ I guess you ’re thinking that Baby belongs 
to you, are n’t you, Elsa ? ” he asked, patting 
the little girl’s shoulder. ‘‘ Well, don’t be 
scared. I ’ll write him that Baby is n’t mine to 
sell. That ’s true enough, for you picked her 

185 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


up. Now, Miss Edsley, this is the table, left, 
and you come forward, centre.’* 

The rehearsal went on, but instead of being 
frightened at the suggestion of losing Baby, as 
the manager thought, Elsa was wondering how 
it would feel not to be able to dance and play 
with other children — not to play ‘‘Tag,” or 
“ Prisoners’ Base,” or “ Blindman’s Buff,” and 
to sit all day in a chair. 

“ I think,” she decided suddenly, “ that I ’ll 
send him Baby for a Christmas gift.” 

At first she thought that she would ask the 
manager. Then she remembered that he had 
said Baby was not his to sell, so of course 
he could make no objections if her owner 
chose to give her away. It did not occur to 
her that though he had said Baby was not his 
to sell he might imagine that she was his to 
keep. 

“ We can find another kitten,” said Mrs. 
Wurstrauber, when Elsa told her about it ; “ an- 
other, even so pretty as this one, and she can 
go with you on the road travel.” 

i86 


BEHIND THE FOOTLIGHTS 


‘‘ I shall miss the little cat,” said Fritz. ‘‘ But 
then I shall soon be well again, and this little 
boy cannot walk.” 

So on Christmas morning the Homers* door- 
bell rang, and the butler brought in a covered 
basket, saying, ‘‘ A little girl left it for Master 
John, but she would n*t come in, sir. She 
seemed afraid.** 

A strange little girl ? ** asked John. Why, 
I don*t know any strange little girls. What can 
this be?** 

‘‘ E-ow ! ** said Pandora, as the cover slipped 
off the basket, and, recognizing John as one of 
the many friends who always await a nice little 
cat, jumped straight into his arms. A card tied 
to her neck said : 

‘‘ You wanted to buy my kitty, but she is not 
for sale. So I give her with much Christmas 
love. From 

‘‘Little Arbutus. 

“ P. S. — The candy was very nice, and 
Fritz also eats it with joy.** 

187 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


It"s Baby ! cried John. “ But it was n’t 
the theatre people’s Baby — it was her Baby, 
and she has given it to me 1 ” 

“It was very sweet in the child,” said his 
father. “ But we can’t accept so much from 
her, because she ’s a poor little girl. I must pay 
her for the cat.” 

“ Oh, no. Daddy. People don’t pay for 
Christmas gifts. It ’s not polite. But we must 
go see her, and find out who Fritz is, and 
what else we can do to give little Arbutus 
joy.” And as he said this. Baby looked up in 
his face and purred. 


A LUNCHEON PARTY 


CHAPTER FIFTEEN 

A LUNCHEON PARTY 

S OME more presents, sir,** said the 
butler, bringing in a handful of pack- 
ages. Come by mail.** 

“ Why, I don*t know anybody to 
send me things by mail,** said John, surprised 
again. But his father, as curious as he was, 
said, Open them quick ! ** 

The first was a toy telephone from the ten- 
cent store — they are really quite good — and 
a note from Gideon, saying, “ This is to find 
out which one of your ears can smell the 
furthest. I bet on the left one.** And Mr. 
Homer laughed very hard when John explained 
the perfumery joke. 

Another parcel held a pasteboard box punched 
full of holes and containing certain partitions, 
and little rooms made of green paper, with the 
following directions : 

189 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ This is a grasshopper house. You get 
some one to catch the grasshoppers, and they do 
the rest. It will cheer you to see a grasshopper 
stick his whiskers through the holes. The 
green color makes them feel at home and 
matches their stomachs, all but the legs. 

“Kenneth Wood.*’ 

“ I *11 catch the grasshoppers next summer,** 
said Mr. Homer, trying not to smile, “ and 
you can do the rest. What *s in the other 
parcel ? ** 

This proved to be a framed picture of a 
little girl holding a cat, and looking just as 
unconscious of herself as any mother does 
when photographed with her baby. On the 
back of the picture was written, “My child, 
Weejums Wood, age, two years, three months, 
a day and twenty minutes. With a Merry 
Christmas to John.** 

“That’s the mother of the big doll, now,” 
he said, showing his father the picture. “ Don’t 
you s’pose she was awfully surprised when it 
came ? ** 


190 


A LUNCHEON PARTY 


“ She must have been fairly staggered,” said 
his father. ‘‘ But it 's certain that you Ve made 
some pretty good friends.” 

“ It’s too bad that Harold and his sister are 
out of town,” said John. “ I would have 
liked to show them Baby.” 

But you ’re glad they took Gideon with 
them, are n’t you ? ” 

Yes, and they ’ll come to see me as soon as 
they get back.” 

‘‘ What do you say to an afternoon at the 
Hippodrome ? ” 

‘‘I do ! ” said John, beaming. And Christ- 
mas Day ended as beautifully as it had 
begun. 

But that evening, after John was in bed, a 
tearful German woman called to see Mr. 
Homer, and said that she was the mother of 
little Arbutus. 

I am so grieved, so overcome to ask this,” 
she almost sobbed, ‘‘ but the manager says he 
will not take my little girl on the road trip if 
Baby is not returned. He says that Baby 
191 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


makes big money for him, and no other cat 
will do. So I must request that Baby should 
be given back to us. I would not ask it but 
that my son is ill, and we need much money 
for him, more than I can make in the shop.” 

“ I was afraid there might be trouble about 
the cat,” said Mr. Homer, thoughtfully. ‘‘ But 
don’t feel so badly about it. Perhaps we can 
think of a way. Do you want your little girl 
to remain on the stage ? ” he asked suddenly, 
after a moment of silence. 

“ Achy neiriy no indeed ! ” said poor Mrs. 
Wurstrauber. It makes very well in the 
city where she can spend her days with me and 
I know all that she does. But to let her go 
among strangers — that I do not like. Who 
knows what people she meets, or what talk she 
hears? No, Mr. Homer, these theatre friends 
are most kind, but my heart says that the place 
for a little Madchen is by her mother’s side.” 

“ I quite agree with you,” said Mr. Homer. 
‘‘ Have you signed the contract for this busi- 
ness yet ? ” 


192 


A LUNCHEON PARTY 


“ No, sir, the manager says she shall not 
sign till she returns the cat.” 

“ Then I have a suggestion to make. Stop 
all this theatrical work for the child this winter, 
and I ’ll pay you the amount of her salary in 
return for the cat. I don’t like to take it away 
from John. He’s set his heart on having this 
particular one.” 

‘‘ Ach^ sir, you are too good ! We could 
not impose so much on your kindness, for 
we are not without money. It is only that 
I wished to send my little son to the country 
when warm weather comes. He is not 
well.” 

I ’ll send him, and the little girl too, if 
you’ll be kind enough to make this arrange- 
ment. The kindness will be all on your side, 
you know, in giving so much pleasure to my 
son. He is quite helpless, and little things 
mean so much to him. Let me write a check 
now, as a little Christmas gift from the kitten.” 

“Very well, sir,” said Mrs. Wurstrauber, 
after a little pause. “ If it is a question of 

13 193 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


your son*s health, and my son’s health, I will 
take the money.” 

“ Can’t your little girl come and take lunch- 
eon with John at one o’clock to-morrow? ” he 
asked as he handed her an envelope. That 
would be a still greater kindness, for I can’t be 
with him.” 

I will tell her,” said Elsa’s mother, in 
delight. The poor child did not know when 
the manager came, for she was away in search 
of another cat. And now she need never 
hear of my trouble. I will find some story to 
tell her.” 

‘‘Would you like to see my boy?” he 
asked, as she rose to go ; and he led her into 
another room where, curled up in bed, with 
Baby purring on his shoulder, lay little John, 
fast asleep. 

“ You see how ill he looks,” his father said ; 
and the kind-hearted woman’s eyes filled again 
as they went back to the study. 

“It is right that he keeps the kitten,” she 
said, and, thanking Mr. Homer once more, 
194 


A LUNCHEON PARTY 


went out into the night. A neighboring church 
tower sent a peal of chimes through the crisp 
air, and in every lighted window hung a 
Christmas wreath. 

God has heard my prayers,” she said, as 
she turned towards home, and the little 
maiden will not have to go from the nest.” 

When she told Elsa the good news they all 
laughed and cried together, for Fritz had been 
forlorn at the prospect of losing his sister, and 
as their mother took them both in her arms, 
the children sang the old proverb that is a 
German household word : " East or west. Mut- 
ter ist best.'' 

‘‘ But what shall I wear to-morrow ? ” Elsa 
asked, thinking of Mr. Homer's invitation. 

I have no party gown.” 

You have the dress of the May Queen,” 
said her mother. " It would be fitting to wear 
it in such a beautiful house.” 

‘‘ And I will take my new cat to show him,” 
said the child. 

So the next day, as John sat waiting in his 
195 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


room, in tripped a spring-like little figure, 
wearing a low-necked frock wreathed with 
Mayflowers, and carrying a black kitten. 

“ Oh, how beautiful you look ! just like 
the play and Snowbird,” John cried. *^Are 
you really Snowbird when you are at home ? ” 

‘‘ Nein, I *m Elsa Wurstrauber,” was the 
shy reply. “ And this is my new cat.” 

“ How do you do, cat ? ” said John, politely. 
“ I *m happy to meet you. But don't you 
miss your own kitten, Elsa ? I feel so naughty 
to keep it.” 

“ No, we are glad she should live here. 
Her ears are so fine that the noise of the trains 
made her suffer. She was not born to keep a 
shop.” 

Just then Pandora, who had heard Elsa’s 
voice, ran to meet her with a welcoming 
mew. 

“Oh, she remembers, — the treasure!” ex- 
claimed the child, kissing her rapturously, 
while the neglected new kitten hid under 
John’s chair. 


196 


A LUNCHEON PARTY 


“ What 's the new one’s name ? ” he asked, 
reaching down to pat it. 

“ Ink,” said Elsa, briefly. 

‘‘ But what do you call it when you want it 
to come ? ” 

« Inky.” 

Why, I know you 1 ” said Pandora to Inky. 

Don’t you remember me?” For the black 
kitten was no other than the wicked Purr- 
puss,” who had sat for his picture and spit 
when he should have smiled. 

‘‘ I had him from our German friend, the 
cobbler on Columbus Avenue,” Elsa explained. 
"He owns the mother and sister also.” 

" Luncheon is served,” said the butler at 
the door, and little Arbutus suddenly became 
very silent. 

" Do we eat alone in this big room ? ” she 
whispered, as John’s chair was wheeled to the 
head of the table. 

" No, Baby and Inky can have their dinner 
too, ’cause it’s my party,” said John, wonder- 
ing why she looked so alarmed. 

197 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ Oh, what do I do with so many forks ? ” Elsa 
was thinking, as she glanced down at her plate. 

The first course was bouillon, and the guest 
put sugar and cream in hers, thinking it was 
tea, but did not suffer from the mistake be- 
cause it tasted no worse than some of the queer 
German soups mother made. 

‘‘ Wurst means sausage, does n’t it ? ” asked 
John, politely, to make conversation. 

‘^Yes,’* said Elsa; then gazed bewildered 
at a strange castle of potatoes that was ap- 
proaching, surrounded by a moat of peas. 

“ Pass it to me first,’* said John, quietly. And 
after that the luncheon went better, for all that 
Elsa needed was to see how things were done. 

“ I know a poem called ‘ The Sausage- 
Bird,* ** continued John. “ Mr. Harold wrote 
it. Would you like me to say it for you ? ** 

^‘5///^,** said Elsa, prettily, so John began: 

O have you seen the Sausage-Bird 
A-rooting in the boughs. 

And chewing up the worsted-work 
Of calm, distracted cows ? 

198 


A LUNCHEON PARTY 


O have you seen the Sausage- Bird ? 

No, I have not, I swear ; 

Then have you heard the Sausage- Bird ? 

I have, but I don^t care ! 

** And would you eat a Sausage- Bird ? 

I could not if I tried. 

Because it has no outer skin. 

Nor anything inside.** 

That very pretty/' said Elsa. I did n’t 
know there was poetry to our name.” 

‘‘ Tell me about Baby and the theatre/’ said 
John; and Elsa’s face cleared. 

“ Well, Baby was a bad cat. You know when 
stage people have to wear certain things they ’re 
fined if they forget them.” 

‘‘ Like their clothes ? ” John inquired. 

“Oh, not so much as that, but what they 
call a ^ property.’ ” 

“ Houses,” said John, “ and railroads ? ” 

“ No, nothing so big. Something little, like 
a fan or a bouquet. The leading man always 
had to wear a bunch of violets in his button- 
hole, and one night Baby got into his dressing- 
199 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


room and chewed them up, so he did n*t have 
any. Baby loves flowers.” 

“ And what happened to the man ? ” 

‘‘ He had to pay his fine just the same, 
because of course they could n’t fine Baby.” 

“When else was Baby bad? ” asked John. 

“Well, one time in the first act she came 
capering on in a sad part where you were n’t 
meant to laugh, and when they tried to shoo 
her out she put up her tail and went off, 
sideways, looking so saucy that the whole 
house roared. Just like Saturday, you know, 
when she fell off the gridiron.” 

“ What a bad cat 1 ” said John. 

“ Yes, and when it came time for Grandpa 
to ask, ‘ Snowbird, where *s the kitten ? ’ some 
one upstairs called out, ‘ Jiminy ! where airit 
the kitten ? ’ ” 

“ Tell some more,” said John. 

“ What a nice croquette ! ” said Elsa, as a 
plate was put down before her. And John 
laughed when on tasting it she discovered 
that it was ice-cream coated with spices, and 
200 


A LUNCHEON PARTY 


the peas rolling around it were made of 
candy. 

“ That ’s one of Blinks* surprises,’* said John, 
and Blinks, the butler, smiled in gratification, 
for he liked to have John pleased. 

But the baddest thing of all that Baby did 
was to spoil a flashlight picture of the play,** 
said Elsa, capturing three of the “ sweet ** peas 
in her spoon. 

Go on,** said John, with round eyes. 

« We were all posing, you know, and ’most 
everybody was on the stage. But when the 
light flashed up Baby jumped right out of my 
arms onto the leading man’s head, so that she 
was there in the picture, and her tail hung over 
his nose. The name of the picture was ‘ Loved 
Ones United,* and he was kneeling at my 
mother’s feet with one arm around me.” 

Yes, I saw that photograph in the lobby,” 
said John. “But wasn’t Baby a loved one 
too ? ” 

“ Not that day, she was n’t. You see it was 
the most important part of the play, where the 
201 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


man says, ‘ Heavens ! me own child ! ' and I 
answer, ‘ Father, why did you desert your 
helpless babe ? ^ ” 

“ I remember,” said John, respectfully. 
Everybody cried.” 

Yes, it 's very sad. So the next time we 
did n’t try to have Baby.” 

When luncheon was over they went back to 
John’s room and looked at his toys, while he 
asked little Arbutus all about Fritz, and what 
he liked best to do. 

He does n’t need much amusing,” she said, 
because he has a glad heart. And now he is 
happy because I don’t have to go away.” 

Would he like this little printing press ? ” 
John asked. And Elsa flushed with pleasure, 
saying that she thought he would, only John 
ought not to part with it. But when it came 
time for Elsa to go, John persuaded her that 
he did not want the printing press, which was 
perfectly true, as lately he had not been well 
enough to use it. 

What beautiful horse is that ? ” she asked, 
202 


A LUNCHEON PARTY 


taking a last look out over the park. ‘‘ See, he is 
stopping here. Do you know him ? ** 



‘'THE CHARM THAT LIES IN A FURRY FACE 


That ’s my fat Edward,*' said John, with 
surprise. Do you really think he *s pretty ? 
He’s very dull.” 

‘‘ Oh, is it truly your own horse ? He looks 
203 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


like a treasure — a picture. You did not tell 
me you had a horse.*’ 

“ He is going to take you home/* said John. 
‘^You and Inky. Blinks telephoned for him 
when you said you were ready to start.** 

Elsa turned quite pale with delight. 

‘‘ I never rode in a nice carriage before/* she 
said. ‘‘ Only once, in a hack with lots of 
other children. What will they all think when 
I come riding home ? They *11 say, ^ Who can 
this be?*** 

She was so excited at the prospect that she 
could scarcely wait for the elevator, and when 
she was fairly seated in the carriage, drove off 
without a single glance at the upper window, 
where a wistful face watched her out of sight. 

But she had a good time,** John thought, 
to comfort himself. “ And she said good-bye 
very nicely, upstairs.** 

‘‘ P-u-r-r 1 ** said Pandora, leaping upon 
his shoulder. And straightway he forgot every- 
thing but the charm that lies in a furry face 
and whisking tail. 


204 


A CHANGE OF RESIDENCE 


CHAPTER SIXTEEN 

A CHANGE OF RESIDENCE 

T he next morning John was awakened 
by hearing his father and Winnie 
talking in the next room. 

“ Oh, the poor lamb, the poor 
lamb I ** the nurse was saying ; and when she 
came in John asked anxiously, “What's the 
matter, Winnie ? Is anybody sick ? ” 

“ Mr. Homer said I was to tell you. Master 
John, that you and I and him are to start for 
Chicago this noon. We shall barely have time 
for the packing.” 

“ Chicago ! ” exclaimed John, as Winnie lifted 
him up in bed. “ Why do we go to Chicago so 
suddenly ? And why was n’t Daddy home last 
night ? ” 

“He went to see the great Doctor Moritz 
who has just arrived, and the doctor is going 
205 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


straight to Chicago. Faith, I don’t know why, 
when New York’s so much more convenient. 
But he says if you go to Chicago now, he ’ll 
do what he can for you.” 

John turned pale with a great hope. 

Does he think that perhaps he can cure 
me, Winnie? You know the other doctors 
said there was no cure.” 

“ Bless your swate heart. I don’t know 
whether he can or not. But it ’s the hip busi- 
ness that he ’s in, and he don’t use the knife for 
it either, only his big, kind hands.” 

‘‘ Oh, Winnie, is n’t Daddy happy ? ” 

He ’s more fashed than I ever saw him, 
— lots more so than yourself. Master 
John.” 

You have to feel just a little well to get 
excited,” John said, laying his head on Winnie’s 
shoulder; and as she went to bring in his 
breakfast she wiped her eyes, thinking, “ Shure, 
if the big doctor gentleman can help the poor 
lamb he ’s come just in time.” 

Mr. Homer came home to luncheon looking 
206 


A CHANGE OF RESIDENCE 


as glad as a boy, and kissed John any number 
of times while they were waiting for the 
carriage. 

‘‘ You must n’t feel too bad, Daddy, if the 
doctor can’t help me,” he said softly, then 
added with a smile, “ I ’m sure that the trip 
will do Baby good.” 

There had been no time to buy Pandora a 
regular travelling basket, so she was put into the 
common lunch affair in which she had journeyed 
back and forth from the theatre. Mr. Homer 
had been unable to get a stateroom on such 
short notice, so Pandora was obliged to be 
content with two sections opposite each other, 
containing mirrors in which to examine her 
pink toes, and polished cuspidors to reflect 
her searching whiskers. 

She ’ll have to go into the baggage-car to- 
night,” Mr. Homer said, “ but I ’ve arranged 
for her to have every attention, so you don’t 
need to worry.” 

‘‘ Had n’t we better keep her in the basket 
till the doors are closed, sir ? ” asked Winnie, 
207 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


anxiously, as the kitten made a dab at a passing 
shoe-lace. 

Yes, certainly. Get in. Baby;*' and Pan- 
dora was thrust hastily out of the way, while 
John amused himself watching the larger 
passengers. 

“ Oh, look at that funny old lady ! " he said, 
as a fat figure waddled up the aisle. Did you 
ever see so many baskets and bundles ? " 

The old lady dropped quite a number of the 
parcels in front of John's section, and while 
Mr. Homer was helping her pick them up, the 
porter looked at her ticket and said : ‘‘You 'se 
on de wrong train, ma'am. You'll have to 
get out right away. Yas 'm." 

“ Why, I ain't sot down yet," she objected ; 
but as the conductor appeared, she was quickly 
hustled down the aisle, followed by the porter, 
who gathered up every basket in sight, and 
threw them after her just as the train moved 
out. 

This was how it happened that Pandora took 
an unexpected trip through the air, and received 
208 


A CHANGE OF RESIDENCE 


a shock of surprise when she landed on the 
Forty-second Street platform again instead of 
in Chicago, as she had been led to expect. 

“ I Ve been insulted,” the old lady scolded, 
as a polite station man drew near. ‘‘ I want 
that porter arrested at once.” 

What porter, madam ? ” 

The one on the train that *s just gone out.” 

“ I 'm afraid it would n’t be convenient now,” 
the man said, smiling. “ What did he do that 
was wrong ? ” 

‘‘He put me off the train when he saw my 
ticket ! Is n’t my ticket as good as any other 
folks’ ? ” 

“ Let me see it,” said the man. “ Oh, yes; 
but you ’re bound for Maine, and that train 
goes to Chicago. Would you rather have gone 
to Chicago ? ” 

“ My sakes, no 1 I don’t look fit, in this 
bonnet 1 ” 

“ Then why are you so angry with the 
porter ? ” 

“ ’T was n’t so much what he done as the way 
14 209 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


he done it. My lunch-basket is all shook up 
inside. Just look here ; ** and the cover being 
off, out popped Pandora’s head with a talkative 
little E-ow ? ” 

‘‘ My land! ” exclaimed the old lady, in dis- 
may. 

“ Great guns 1 ” said the equally astonished 
agent. “ Do they eat cats where you come 
from ? ” 

I never set eyes on it before. That black 
fool shied it after me as the train started. He 
must have took the wrong basket, and those 
other folks are eating my sandwiches.” 

What are you going to do with it ? ” 

Let it loose, I guess. I ’m one of the few 
old maids that hates ’em. There is some left, 
and they ’re an honor to their class. Scat, you 
little nuisance ! ” 

“ Give it to me,” said the agent. There 
may be some inquiries at the other end.” And 
having taken the old lady to her train, he car- 
ried Pandora to the parcel-room and checked 
her, which would have been an excellent scheme 


210 


A CHANGE OF RESIDENCE 


if he had not happened to lose the check on his 
way home to supper. 

What ’s this ? ” asked a newsboy, pouncing 
on something that shone at his feet. ‘‘ It *s got 
a number on it. Oh, this world is full of 
blasted hopes ! I thought *t was a dollar, 
sure.” 

Lemme look,” said another one. “ Oh, 
dis ain’t so bad. We’ll take it to the station 
and see what we draw, see ? Maybe a bag of 
toilet instruments, or a pile of rugs.” 

Both *11 be useful,” said Pell, the first boy, 
“ in case we ever adopt a kid.” 

They presented the check at the parcel 
window, and as ill luck would have it, the man 
who had received Pandora was off duty, so she 
was handed out without question by the sleepy 
attendant. 

“Ten cents, please,” he added, and having 
exchanged a quick look of concern, each boy 
fished a nickel from his pocket. Pell holding up 
two fingers to imply that whatever was in this 
deal should be divided equally between them. 

2II 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


They ran with the basket to a secluded spot 
and eagerly looked inside. 

“ E-ow ! ” said Pandora, indignantly this 
time, for she was tired of seeing a new face 
whenever the cover was lifted. 

‘‘ Great bamboo trees ! it *s a cat ! ** cried 
Pell, his hands dropping to his side. ‘‘ WeVe 
been done.*’ 

‘‘To the extent of a dime,” said the other, 
mournfully. “ Let *s take it to the station and 
get our money back.” 

“ Yes, and have the cops after us.” 

“ What *11 we do with it? Chasin* *em is too 
tame.** 

“ Let *s send it to Coppy Flynn.** 

“ What ! him that *s so scared of cats ? ** 

“ Yes, as a token of affection from us that *s 
so scared of him.** 

“ How *11 you get it to him ? ** 

“ Leave that to me,** said Pell, tearing the 
margin from one of his papers, and writing 
something. “ Got a string ? ** 

Half an hour later, when policeman Flynn 
212 


A CHANGE OF RESIDENCE 


walked past, there was no one in sight but a 
very festive gentleman who steered carefully in 
his direction. 

‘‘ What you want now ? ” asked Flynn, im- 
politely. “ You go home to bed. See ? 

‘‘ Funny noise inside the parcel-post box,” 
said the stranger, in no wise offended. “ Buzz — 
scratch — ftz ! — like that. See ? ” 

Dynamite bomb ! ” thought the policeman 
in alarm, hurrying to the box, from which 
certainly issued unusual sounds. 

“ Better stand back,” he said to the man. 
“ It may burst.” 

‘‘ Glad to accommodate,” replied the other. 
‘‘In case you explode — pick you up. No 
trouble, I assure you.” 

“ E-ow ! ” wailed Pandora, anxiously, quite 
worn out with trying to climb up the steep sides 
of the prison into which the boys had thrust her. 

“ Faith, it *s fools we Ve both been,” said 
the policeman, giving a sigh of relief, “ though 
it *s a bomb I ’d rather be handlin’ than one of 
thim scratchin’, curdlin’ cats.” 

213 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


‘‘ Permit me to remove the machine/’ said 
the stranger, putting his arm down into the 
box, and after some groping he managed to 
seize Pandora by the ear. Of course it hurt, 
but as the rest of her came along behind, she 
was soon outside, and held up to the light 
by the happy gentleman, who seemed even 
more happy than before. 

Awful dangerous machine/^ he said, exam- 
ining the paper that was tied to her neck. “ It ’s 
called Coppy Flynn. Name of manufacturer, 
or name of machine ? ” 

You move on quick or I ’ll machine you/’ 
said the irate policeman, and the man let Pan- 
dora leap gently to the ground, after whispering 
in her ear, “ Beg pardon, I ’m sure, but I have 
an engagement.” 

Don’t you give me no back talk,” called 
Flynn, swelling with rage. And the queer 
gentleman wandered happily off, murmuring to 
himself, ‘‘Now I wonder which cruel person 
mailed that unfortunate cat.” 

Pandora tried to make friends with Mr. 

214 


A CHANGE OF RESIDENCE 


Flynn, but a badly aimed kick caused her to 
change her mind, and dodge past him down the 
subway entrance where a train was coming in. 

“ Another policeman, with a louder voice 
and bigger eyes ! ** she thought in terror, and 
hid under the platform until the creature 
rumbled out of sight. But just as she was 
preparing to come out again, another one 
dashed past, and gave a shriek of rage as if 
it said, I see you hiding in the dark. Pandora, 
so it*s no use for you to bristle up your tail. 
My tail is longer than yours, and you can’t 
frighten me'' 


215 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 

THE SUBWAY CAT 

F or many weeks Pandora lived under 
the platform in the subway, and was 
fed from the dinner-pails of the 
station employes, and men who 
worked around the tracks. At first they had 
tried to chase her away, but her experiences in 
the street were so much worse than those under- 
ground that she always returned to her first 
hiding-place. At least, no boys or dogs lived 
there, and she soon found that the shrieking 
policemen never moved from their tracks to 
kick her. But the rush and roar of their foot- 
steps hurt her ears, and one day, when two of 
them ran into each other and called names amid a 
great hissing of steam, she was so frightened that 
she ran upstairs and left the subway for good. 

“Oh, I wish I could find Henry or John 
or any of the people who loved me,” she 
216 


THE SUBWAY CAT 


thought, as a wagon nearly ran her down. 
“ Here comes another dog. Oh, I want to be 
somebody’s cat ! ” 

But nobody at any of the stores where she 
called seemed to be in need of a cat. The 
vacancies were all filled — except that in her 
poor little inside; and before long Pandora 
learned the woe of an empty stomach, as well 
as the sorrow of an empty heart. Her fur 
became weedy and unkempt. Her white 
guimpe turned black, and her maltese petticoat 
rusty with wear. So of course she grew less 
attractive every day, and stood less chance of 
being adopted on account of her looks. In 
addition to this, she was growing so fast that she 
had no longer the charm of babyhood to melt 
peoples’ hearts, and cause them to open their 
milk-cans. ‘‘ Oh, look at that old ash-barrel 
cat ! ” they would say, and throw whatever 
happened to be lying near. Whether this hit 
or not depended upon whether they were 
good shots, as Pandora had never learned to 
dodge. 


217 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Little by little she drifted over to the East 
side and made friends with cats that Annabel 
would never have approved of. But if one is 
affectionate, one must have sympathy or die, 
and ash-barrel sympathy is quite as genuine 



“SHE MADE FRIENDS THAT ANNABEL WOULD NEVER 
HAVE APPROVED OF** 


as the Persian kind. So Pandora learned 
how to steal and fight and sing bad cat songs 
under open windows. But she was never 
happy in this new life, because at heart she 
was a lady. 

When spring came she joined a company of 
half-starved cats, who had been deserted by 
218 


THE SUBWAY CAT 


their owners on leaving town, and formed a 
hunting club for the purpose of catching the 
squirrels in Central Park. Of course this was 
a pity, but the cats were too desperate with 
hunger to heed the City law, and many a bushy 
tail paid for the carelessness of young people 
now dancing at summer hotels. Most of 
the cats that Pandora met had belonged, 
like herself, to refined people, and some of 
them had lived in beautiful Fifth Avenue 
homes. 

‘‘ They say we can catch mice,** said a 
mournful little lady who still wore the remains 
of a sky-blue bow, but there are no mice in 
the streets of New York, and the houses are 
locked against us.** 

One evening Pandora was strolling around 
the Park sniffing at the peanut-shells under 
the benches, and hoping to find a beefsteak 
among them, when a large tabby tom-cat 
walked past. He was a sleek, well-fed citizen 
of the tradesman class, and did not seem to 
be out in search of squirrels. 

219 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


“ Good evening/* he said pleasantly, as 
Pandora started to run. 

“ Please, sir, give me a mouse,** she whined 
in the begging tone that the East-side cats had 
taught her. 

“ Well, I *m sorry, but I *m out of mice 
to-day,** the cat said with regret, “ but if you *11 
just step around the corner with me you can 
have some meat, and welcome. My father 
keeps a butcher’s shop — the best on Colum- 
bus Avenue.** 

Pandora*s mind struggled back to the days 
of her happy kittenhood, and she seemed to 
remember having met this cat before. 

‘‘ Are n*t you Emma?** she asked sud- 
denly, the cat who cured his master of 
rheumatism ? ** 

‘‘ The same,** Emma replied with a flourish 
of the tail. Are n*t you the kitten who came 
in a bag to have her picture taken with me, 
and then went off before 1 had a chance to 
look pleasant ? ** 

‘‘ I am,** said Pandora, hungrily. I can 
220 


THE SUBWAY CAT 


smell that meat yet. Oh, how long ago it 
seems ! ** 

“ Here is Eighth Avenue,” said Emma, as 
they reached the street. Wait till I call, then 
crouch and run.” 

They did so, and as Emma led Pandora 
down the wide street she noticed that many 
cats greeted him from the gloom of doorways, 
and always with much respect. 

How many friends you seem to have ! ” 
she said. 

Yes, little lady. It 's not my way to boast, 
I hope, but I fancy I ’m pretty well known. 
One of our customers,” he added, as a 
much beribboned Persian gave him a haughty 
little nod from an upper window. 

At the corner of Columbus Avenue they 
passed an Italian fruit-stand, where five 
dirty cats slumbered happily in a basket of 
cherries. 

“ They all look full,” Pandora said. 

What luck some people have ! ” 

“ Oh, I would n’t notice any such as them,” 
221 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


said Emma, disapprovingly. They ’re not 
quite our style.” 

“ Ours ? ” repeated Pandora, timidly. 

‘‘Yours and mine,” said the cat, in triumph. 
“ I ’m going to take you home with me. You 
shall be a butcher’s cat.” 

Pandora’s eyes grew moist with gratitude, 
but she was so tired that before they reached 
the shop her legs gave way, and she sank down, 
unable to take another step. 

“ Oh, do make an effort,” the anxious Emma 
implored. “There are pieces of chuck steak 
and tripe under the counter, a great many 
pieces, and all shall be yours. I won’t even 
smell of ’em.” 

But Pandora was too feeble to stir. 

“ Dead cat ! ” yelped a little cur, making a 
dash at her. But Emma dealt him a blow on 
the nose that sent him howling away. 

“ This is not a safe place,” said Emma, and 
managed to drag Pandora into the shadow of a 
step, where she lay with closed eyes. 

A queer-looking red cart rattled down the 
222 


THE SUBWAY CAT 


street, followed by a man who kept peering 
into doorways, and under dark areas. 

That cart is from the pound,’’ whispered 
Emma, excitedly. ‘‘ Lie still. They must n’t 
see us.” 

“ What ? ” asked Pandora, feebly ; and the 
searching man stopped to listen. “ More 
strays here,” he said, and walked straight to 
the spot where the sick cat lay. 

“ Run ! save yourself! ” she gasped to 
Emma. But the brave creature refused to 
leave her, and both cats were thrust into the 
basket that was tossed from the cart. 

“ Oh, where are they taking us 1 ” wailed 
Pandora, as the cart started, and from above 
and below them came the moans of other 
frightened captives. 

“ We are going to the pound,” said Emma, 

but don’t let that disturb you, for father won’t 
let us stay there long. He can’t get on with- 
out me.” 

As the cart drove up outside the pound. 
Pandora’s ears were deafened by such a medley 
223 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


of barks and howls as she had never heard 
before. 

Are they being whipped ? ” she whispered 
to Emma. 

No, I think not. It is only fright, and 
sorrow because their friends have forgotten 
them.** 

The cats were separated In the pound, but 
much to Pandora*s relief, Emma*s cage was the 
one directly over her own. 

‘‘Are you all right?** he asked, peering 
through a knothole in his floor. 

“ Yes, are you ? ** she replied. 

“ No, I *m beginning to be bored. This 
joke has gone too far.** 

Presently a man brought them something to 
eat, and as Emma was not hungry, he managed 
to poke his portion down through the knothole 
to Pandora, who soon revived under the tonic 
of a double repast. 

“ The table *s not bad. Is It ? ** she said, but 
Emma sniffed and declined to answer, so 
Pandora judged that he was regretting the pile 
224 


THE SUBWAY CAT 


of tripe and chuck steak under his father’s 
counter. 

That night the noises in the pound increased, 
and Pandora was unable to get any sleep. But 
in the morning there was a good breakfast, and 
kind treatment from the man in charge. “If 
I could only get a nap,” she sighed, as the 
homeless cats and ownerless dogs wailed on 
unceasingly through the day. 

But the next morning there was a rumble of 
wheels, and a larger cage was pushed past them, 
into which were put most of the wailing cats and 
dogs. A door was slammed, and that night 
there was quiet once more at the pound. 

“ Where did they all go ? ” Pandora asked 
her friend. “ Did their families come for them 
at last?” 

“ I don’t know,” said Emma, whose blood 
was beginning to turn cold. 

“ Do you think they ’ll come back to-night ? 
It ’s so nice and quiet when they ’re away.” 

“ I don’t think they ’ll come back,” said 
Emma, in a frightened voice. 

IS 225 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


The next day there was a great excitement 
outside, and the butcher rushed in, crying, 
“ Where is my cat, my Emma, who cured me 
of rheumatism ? Give up my Emma, you 
scoundrels, or I have you all arrested ! I have 
search the city over, and he is not there.” 

‘‘ Please give a description of your cat,” said 
one of the men, kindly. 

‘‘A description of him? He is the best, the 
noblest, faithfullest animal alive. The truest — 
kindest — ” 

What color is he, please ? ” 

‘‘ As good a color as there is. No better 
anywhere.” 

‘‘ Perhaps you 'd better come and look your- 
self.” But by this time Emma was uttering 
loud howls of joy, and in a second he and the 
butcher were in each other’s arms. 

“ Oh, father ! it ’s been fierce,” he mewed. 

How dared you steal my cat, you scamps ? ” 
the butcher raged, and carried Emma off before 
he had a chance to put in a plea for his unhappy 
companion. 


226 


THE SUBWAY CAT 


Emma ! Em-ma ! ” called Pandora in 
despair. But Emma was already on a street car 
bound for home. He tried in vain to explain 
about Pandora, but the butcher only said, See 
how he loves me ! and is so glad to get back 
again ! ” And that was all that Emma could 
ever make him understand. 

So Pandora grieved alone at the pound, and 
each day had the agony of seeing other pets 
claimed by loving relatives, while she was left 
behind. 

Sometimes a lady would come who had not 
lost a cat, but wanted one; and then Pan- 
dora would purr her prettiest, and try to put up 
her fluffy tail. But the tail had lost so much 
hair in her life on the East side, that a mere 
glimpse of it was enough to deprive her of any 
chance. 

‘‘ Not that old thing I Show me something 
pretty ! they would say, and Pandora would 
lie down again with an aching heart, her purr 
dying away in despair. 

But at last a day came when the wagon that 
227 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


took little sufferers to the gas-chamber stopped 
outside her cage, 

‘‘ That must have been a pretty cat once/' 
said one of the men. Pity nobody wanted 
it." 

“ Oh, what are you going to do with me ? " 
Pandora wept. And all her companions in the 
wagon wept also, filled with a vague terror that 
they could not understand. The wagon was 
pushed along to the gas chamber, the door 
thrown open, and then — 

“ Stop — stop ! " cried a boy’s voice. 
“ There ’s just a chance she ’s in there." And 
Pandora gave a cry of joy as the boy ran into 
the room. 

He looked anxiously at the wagon, then 
gave a great shout of delight and said, “ I see 
her ! I see her ! That ’s our cat. I know her 
pretty face, and the scar on her nose where the 
rat bit her. Take her out quick, please." And 
too weak with happiness to believe that it was 
really true, the broken-hearted little wanderer 
was placed in Gideon’s arms. 

228 


THE SUBWAY CAT 


Not ashamed of the tears that fell on her 
ragged coat, he hurried her away from that 
place of sorrow, saying: 

‘‘ Oh, Pandora ! Pandora ! a minute more 
and I should have been too late ! ” 


229 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 

THE REST OF IT 
{Told by Pandora) 

I DID not care where Gideon took me so 
long as he kept petting me and calling 
me his poor pretty kitten. It was so 
many months since any one had called me 
pretty that I had almost forgotten the sound 
of the word, and it is very sweet for a cat to 
realize that she is always a kitten in the eyes 
of her friends. 

‘‘You can’t go to Annabel yet,” whispered 
Gideon, with sympathy, “ ’cause she ’s out of 
town. But you can stay with me till she gets 
back. Aunt Pen could n’t refuse to keep you 
now, when you ’re feeling so bad.” 

But that is exactly what Aunt Pen did. She 
sent Gideon on an errand, and when he was 
gone she thrust me out into the hall, saying, 
“ This is no hospital for tramps.” 

230 


THE REST OF IT 


I sat down to wait for the elevator, hoping 
that the boy would recognize me, but when the 
door opened he called out “ Scat 1 ” in such an 
unfeeling way that I fled. And to crown it all 
Bachelor walked past without speaking to me. 
“ Bachelor ! I said in pleading tones. But 
he only glanced at me coldly, said “ I have 
not the honor,” and passed on. 

I tried to console myself with the knowledge 
that he was half blind, but nevertheless it is 
terrible to be cut by an old friend, only because 
the hair has passed from one’s tail. And he was 
not in a position to make such points, either, as 
my tail, though a poor thing, was at least my own. 

I went on, up to the roof, not daring to risk 
the street, and hoping that I might not run 
across Miss Harry, for it seemed as if, in my 
sad state, I could not bear to meet her critical 
eyes. But this shows how little you can tell 
about people, or cats either, until you lose the 
hair from your tail. 

Miss Harry came running to meet me with 
a cry of love and joy. 

231 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


‘‘ Oh, you poor li'l thing ! ** she said, just as 
when I cut my paw so long ago. ‘‘You come 
right home with me this minute, and stay 



MISS HARRY, OF CHARLESTON * * 


till Annabel gets back. Constantia will be 
delighted.” 

And this dear cat not only took me home 
with her, but gave me her own supper and her 
own bed, while she herself lay on the floor, 
saying that she really preferred it. 

232 


THE REST OF IT 


You can imagine how this made me feel, for 
although I was conscious of being cleverer 
than Miss Harry, she had a charm of manner, 
and a way with other cats that I had always 
secretly envied, and this had sometimes caused 
me to dislike her. But to-night I was to learn 
the real tenderness of her heart. When I told 
her my sad story she wept with sympathy, and 
said that Constantia had something that would 
bring hair back to a tail. Miss Harry had 
needed it herself once, on account of sitting 
on some fly-paper. You rubbed it on night 
and morning, and it was fine. 

“What makes you so nice to me?” I asked, 
moved almost beyond speech. 

“ Why, this is nothing 1 ” Miss Harry said 
in surprise. “ It ’s the way we all do in 
Charleston.” And you can imagine what my 
loneliness had been when I tell you that I 
was actually glad to hear about Charleston 
again ! 

Presently Constantia and her family came in 
to welcome me, and after that Miss Harry 

233 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


told me a piece of news that at the time 
was a crushing blow. 

“ I suppose you have n’t heard that Annabel 
is going to be married,” she said, to a Mr. 
West. She is visiting his mother now.” 

I jumped out of the basket, lame and tired 
as I was, and cried, “ I shall never give my 
consent.” 

“ I ’m afraid you ’re too late,” Miss Harry 
replied. “You ought to have stayed home to 
attend to it. My people say he’s quite the 
gentleman.” 

“ He is not,” I said angrily. “He sat on 
me in a hansom cab and committed other out- 
rages too numerous to mention.” 

Just then the door-bell rang and we heard 
Gideon’s voice asking if any one had seen Pan- 
dora Van Camp. 

“Yes, she’s visiting Miss Harry,” Con- 
stantia said. “ Miss Harry invited her, and 
we-all are going to keep her till Annabel 
comes back. Poor cat ! she looks so sad and 
changed.” 


234 


THE REST OF IT 


She ’s been at the pound,” Gideon said 
wrathfully. ‘‘ Who would n’t look sad and 
changed, and deaf besides ? But I ’m awfully 
glad you ’re going to keep her, because Aunt 
Pen — ” Here his feelings grew too much 
for him, and we heard him bound off down 
the steps, muttering “Aunt Pen!” under his 
breath. 

I found out afterwards how it was that 
Gideon happened to be at the pound in time 
to save my life. It seemed that when I was 
first lost Annabel had left a pile of post cards 
with the man there, so that he could let her 
know whenever a maltese and white kitten was 
brought in ; and every week or two, one of 
these cards came. But it was never Pandora 
that she found, and the visits made her feel so 
badly that Gideon offered to go in her place. 
The last post card had been delayed through 
forwarding, or I should have been freed before, 
and spared much agony of mind. 

In a few days Annabel came home, and 
welcomed me so tenderly that I almost forgave 

235 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


her for wanting to marry Mr. West. Then, 
too, he had adopted a habit of carrying catnip 
in his pocket, which soon convinced me that 
after all, he had his good points. But I felt so 
badly at the thought of leaving Harold alone 
in the flat that I could scarcely let him out of 
my sight, and showed my affection by jump- 
ing on his bed at night to lap the end of his 
nose. Strange to say he always seemed an- 
noyed at first, but cooled down when he 
found who it was. I don’t dare to think what 
might have happened if it had been any one 
else who did it. 

But my mind was soon relieved by Gideon’s 
aunt, who fell down the steps one day and broke 
her hip. You will wonder how this could be 
a relief to any one but Gideon. Yet when he 
came to tell us about it, I felt sure that this 
ill wind would blow somebody good. 

She ’s going to live with her cousin in the 
country,” he said very quietly, and I *m to 
be sent to — a Home!” 

“To a Home I” echoed Annabel, in dismay, 
236 


THE REST OF IT 


for even a cross aunt is better than none. 
“O Gideon! you mustn’t go to a Home!” 

But Gideon did not seem to mind. He was 
pale and dry-eyed as he explained that his aunt 
had said she would not be able to keep him 
any longer. She was now helpless herself, so 
how could she provide for a child ? 

‘‘ Cheer up, old man,” said Harold, putting 
an arm around him. ‘‘ I ’ll go down and see 
what’s doing.” 

And when he was gone Annabel took 
Gideon on her lap. I jumped up too, and 
licked away the tears that came when Harold 
was out of sight — for Gideon had been 
ashamed to cry before a man — and tried to 
tell him that I understood how he felt about 
going to a Home, as I had just come from the 
pound. 

Presently Harold returned, and beckoned 
Annabel into the next room, and they talked 
for quite a while. Then I heard Harold say, 
‘‘Well, it’s no more than fair anyhow, when 
you ’re deserting me for another man. If any 

237 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


poor fellow ever needed a brother I think I *m 
the one/* 

They came back, and calling Gideon to him, 
Harold put a finger under the boy’s chin and 
said, Well, old chap, how would you like to 
stay here with me and be my brother, since 
another man *s taking away my sister ? Do 
you think we could make Elga give us enough 
to eat ? ” 

Gideon looked at him a minute without 
speaking, and then in a strange little voice 
said, ‘‘Oh, Mr. Harold, is it — oh, it isn’t 
a joke ? ” 

“ No, old man, if you think you ’d like to do 
it. I ’ll prepare you for college, and, by Jove! 
we ’ll go to the circus too.” 

Gideon broke down in earnest then, and 
wiped his eyes on a very grimy handkerchief 
that had just been used to make a bow for 
my tail. 

“You ought n’t to spend — so much money,” 
he said between sobs. “ I ain’t your boy.” 

“Now that’s just where you’re mistaken,” 
238 


THE REST OF IT 


Harold said; “for when I was downstairs I 
signed a paper that makes you my boy always. 
But you must remember that I ’m yours too, 
and that boys have to be amused.** 

This made Gideon laugh, and then we all 
purred together; at least, I purred my 
very loudest, and the rest did the best they 
could. 

“You see, I found the boy came from a 
good family,** Harold told some one the next 
day. “ His father was a minister, and when 
he and his wife died Gideon was adopted by 
this Mrs. Moles* husband, whom his wife 
alluded to affectionately as a ‘soft-hearted old 
fool.* I *m not afraid but that the boy will do 
me credit, and be much cheaper to keep than 
a polo pony.** 

So Gideon*s little trunk was brought down 
to our flat, and he slept with Harold until An- 
nabel went away. 

But the greatest surprise came on the day 
of the wedding. We were all looking at her 
trousseau while she packed, when the door 

239 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


opened and in ran a little boy with a great 
shout of joy. You will scarcely believe me 
when I tell you that this boy who came run- 
ning in just like other children, was my own 
little John 1 The great doctor had healed 
him ! 

“ Hurrah, old man ! Home just in time ! ” 
called Harold, tossing him up in his arms, 
while Gideon danced around in delight. 

‘‘ I have a present for you, Annabel,” said 
John, laughing. ‘Ht*s one of those silly 
things to wear round your neck that girls like. 
Papa got it at Tiffany's. Harold, do let me 
kick you once to show how strong my legs 
are.” 

Ouch ! ” said the Professor, rubbing his 
knee. ‘‘ I think you can truthfully say, John, 
that you are rapidly improving.” 

By this time I could no longer conceal my 
joy at seeing John again, and as I trotted up 
to him he sprang forward eagerly, crying : Oh, 
it 's Baby ! it 's Baby ! Annabel, where, where 
did you find my Baby-cat ? ” 

240 


THE REST OF IT 


‘‘ That is n*t your kitty, dear,” Annabel said 
gently. ‘‘ That is our Pandora, who was lost 
and went to the pound.” 

‘^No, but it is my Baby, who got thrown 
off the train by mistake, with an old lady, 
and was never heard from again. Papa tele- 
graphed every week. Oh, Baby ! how you 
have grown ! ” 

“There seems to be a case of mistaken 
identity around here somewhere,” said the 
Professor, with a twinkle in his eye. “ How 
do you propose to settle it, sister ? ” 

“ I don’t know,” answered Annabel, in dis- 
tress. “That certainly is Pandora. I recog- 
nize the scar on her nose.” 

“ My kitty had a scar too,” said John, 
patting me confidently. “ She must have 
looked something like yours.” 

“What are we going to do?” asked Gideon. 
“ I can swear that’s Pandora Van Camp.” 

“ So could I,” I purred to John, but I was 
unable to explain that I was also Baby Homer, 
ex-member of the “ Snowed-in ” Theatrical 

i6 


241 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


Company, and graduate of the New York 
Hook-and-Ladder force. 

“ It ’s a pity you were out of town when 
Pandora gave her party,” Annabel said, ‘‘be- 
cause then you would have known who she 
was.” 

“We’ll have to let Pandora decide for her- 
self,” said Harold, putting me on the floor. 
“Now let’s all call her, and see which she 
goes to.” 

Annabel called first, and although I had not 
forgotten her weeks of devoted petting, and 
the catnip that Mr. West had given me, I did 
not stir. Then Harold called, and my heart 
ached at refusing him, for no one else has ever 
shown me more courtesy, or invented more 
charming ways in which to play with one’s tail. 
And when Gideon called, my eyes filled with 
grateful tears, in memory of the pound. But 
when little John called me I did not stop to 
reason at all. I ran straight into his arms. 

“Well, if you aren’t the most fickle, faith- 
less cat alive ! ” said Annabel, in disgust. 

242 


THE REST OF IT 


‘‘ Oh, Pandora ! breeder of discord ! thou 
art rightly named,*' said Harold. And even 
Gideon looked hurt. 

But I could not explain to them that it was 
not fickleness on my part. We always love 
best the people who need us most, and I knew 
that little John needed me. Although he could 
now run and walk, he would not be strong for 
some time yet, and as Harold had Gideon, and 
Annabel Mr. West, I felt that little John ought 
to have me ! 

‘^Well, I don’t see but that we’ll have to 
bid Pandora farewell, Gideon,” said Harold, 
with a funny smile. ‘‘ She and Annabel have 
both chosen another fellow, so you and Hominy 
and I will keep bachelor’s hall together.” 

My story ends, as it began, with two round 
balls of fur lying out in the sunshine. Only 
this time the larger ball is myself, and the little 
one my son Virgil, two months old. We are 
spending the summer at the Homers’ country 
place, and I have found that the fairy stories 
243 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


my mother used to tell me are true. I have 
lived to see flowers growing out of the 
ground. 

Candy, the fire horse, is here too, and spends 
peaceful days in a juicy pasture with a few 



“MY SON, VIRGIL, TWO MONTHS OLD** 


congenial friends. But when the church bell 
rings he snorts and canters to the fence, hoping 
always that it may mean another summons to 
a fire. Virgil has learned to ride on his back 
just as I did on Abraham’s, and Candy is a 
244 


THE REST OF IT 


devoted nurse. John rides him too, and little 
Arbutus and her brother Fritz, when they 
come out on a visit. 

Harold and Gideon are away somewhere on 
a fishing trip, and Hominy is boarding with 
Weasels until they get back. Hominy has a 
new maltese wife named Wheatena, that Harold 
bought for him down on Eighth Avenue ; and 
Gideon says that she nags him awfully. But 
from what I know of Hominy, a little dis- 
cipline won’t do him any harm. 

A few days ago I heard that Annabel has 
another cat, presented to her by Eunice Wood 
of Montrose. His name is Admiral Togo 
Wood West, and he is a son of the pink-toed 
Weejums. Virgil, of course, is promised to 
Harold and Gideon as soon as he is old enough 
to leave home. 

He is now chewing my ears in the most dis- 
tracting way — every mother knows how hard 
it is to write with a child around and saying: 

Oh, mother ! won’t you please switch your 
tail a little while ? Please, mother ! ” 

245 


THE FLIGHT OF PUSS PANDORA 


So I am sure you will excuse me if I leave 
you and amuse him a few minutes, for he is 
the sweetest, fluffiest, cunningest boy alive. 
But the name of Virgil, that Harold gave him, 
is not really his own. The name that I call 
him by, and that he answers to most readily, 
is Emma. 



EMMA 





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Another Favorite Cat Story 

THE 

ALLEY CAT’S KITTEN 


By CAROLINE FULLER 
Author of “The Flight of Puss Pandora.” 

With six full-page pictures and illustrations in the text 
12mo. Decorated cloth. $1.50 


^'Weejums” is sure to become a pet 
of childhood land. — Boston Herald, 

It is difficult to tell whether the 
children or the cats are the most 
amusing in this story. — Toledo Blade. 

Humor and an understanding of 
real children are the characteristics 
of this amusing story for children. — 

Christian Register^ Boston. 

The child fond of pets — and what 
child is not ? — has a treat in store if 
presented with the book. “ Weejums,” 
for so the kitten is named, has many 
adventures, and all of them are capi- 
tally related. — Newark News. 

Altogether the most entertaining and humorous book for 
older children that has come within the reach of the present 
reviewer ... a wholly delightful little account of a family 
of children who adopted the only child of the Alley Cat. — 
Syracuse Post Standard. 

The strong sense of humor and the keen womanly insight 
into cats and animals and children invest these pages with 
a wealth of delight. — Worcester Gazette. 



LITTLE, BROWN, & CO., Publishers 

254 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON 


New Books for the Young 


READY THE RELIABLE. By Lily F. Wesselhoeft, 
author of "Sparrow the Tramp,” etc. Illustrated 
by Chase Emerson. 12mo. Decorated cloth, $1.50. 

A nother delightful animal story by this favorite author, 
in which she attempts to show how adversity develops 
the energy and awakens the sense of responsibility in children, 
which traits would lie dormant or be misdirected in a life of 
luxury. The story will impress young readers with a sense 
of the distinct individuality of every animal. 

THE DEAR OLD HOME. By Sara Ellmaker 
Ambler. With 8 full-page illustrations. 12mo. Dec- 
orated cloth, $1.50. 

T he scene of this original and entertaining story, which 
will delight both boys and girls, is laid in one of the 
Amish settlements of Pennsylvania. Serena and her brother 
Dick, city children, upon a long visit to their grandmother, 
became acquainted with Beppie and Pharaoh, two Pennsyl- 
vania Dutch children. The love-games, quiet adventures, 
and the boy sports which are described in the story will 
please and entertain children. 

OLD HOME DAY AT HAZELTOWN. By A. G. 
Plympton, author of "Dear Daughter Dorothy,” 
etc. Illustrated by Clara E. Atwood. 12mo. Dec- 
orated cloth, $1.50. 

M ISS PLYMPTON has made the Old Home Day sentiment 
the basis of a pretty story. The story is told in a 
straightforward manner and the interest never flags. Roxy 
and her grandmother are both natural characters. The feeling 
for family and one’s own town, and the sentiment of the song 
" Home, Sweet Home ” are made a part of the story. Narra- 
tive and conversation are characterized by the same animation 
that one finds in the writer’s other popular books. 


LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers 
254 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. 


New Books for the Young 


THE BIRCH-TREE FAIRY BOOK. By Clifton 
Johnson. With numerous full-page pictures and 
smaller illustrations by Willard T. Bonte. 12mo 
Decorated cloth, $1.75. 

A WORTHY companion to the charming Oak-Tree Fairy 
Book.” The stories have been carefully chosen and 
represent a wide variety from the simple folk tales to the 
fairy romances, including a number not commonly known or 
easily accessible. They nave gained much and lost nothing 
in the retelling. Mr. Bonte has a remarkable faculty for 
illustrating fairy tales, and the pictures he made for the 
Oak-Tree Fairy Book ” received tne highest praise. 

DONALD BARTON AND THE DOINGS OF THE 
AJAX CLUB. By Amos R. Wells, author of ^'The 
Caxton Club,” etc. Illustrated by Josephine Bruce. 
12mo. Decorated cloth, $1.50. 

A BOOK for boys filled with genuine, natural boy charac- 
ters and the things that boys like. “The Glen” is a 
picturesque spot near a country town, in which the boys be- 
longing to the “Ajax Club” have held their meetings. The 
“Ajax Club” boys have many exciting adventures. 

PELHAM AND HIS FRIEND TIM. By Allen 
French, author of “The Junior Cup,” “The Story 
of Rolf and the Viking’s Bow,” etc. Illustrated. 
12mo. Decorated cloth, $1.50. 

A FIRST-RATE book for boys, with well-sustained in- 
terest and strongly drawn characters. The author 
centres his plot in a mill strike, which he has cleverly por- 
trayed and written of in a manner adapted to the under- 
standing of young people. Pelham and his friend have some 
really thrilling adventures. 


LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers 
254 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. 


New Books for the Young 


NANCY RUTLEDGE AND HER FRIENDS. By 
Katharine Pyle, author of ** The Christmas Angel/' 
" As the Goose Flies/’ " In the Green Forest/’ etc. 
With 6 full-page illustrations by the author. 12mo. 
Decorated cloth, $1.25. 

A new story written and illustrated by this popular author 
will delight children of about eight years old. It is 
right in spirit, with natural children, and a wholesome atmos- 
phere. The different traits of Nancy, the little heroine of the 
story, become apparent as the chapters progress, and her 
especial friendship with a small neighbor is developed. 

IN EASTERN WONDERLANDS. By Charlotte 
Chaffee Gibson. Illustrated from photographs. 
12mo. Decorated cloth, $1.50. 

A BRIGHT story of a trip around the world, with the em- 
phasis on Japan, China, Ceylon, India, the Red Sea, 
and Egypt. It is thoroughly adapted to the comprehension 
of children and admirably suited ror their entertainment and 
instruction. Its peculiar merit lies in the fact that it is a 
story of a real trip made by three real children. 

LONG AGO IN GREECE. A Book of Golden Hours 
with the Old Story Tellers. By Edmund J. Car- 
penter. Illustrated. 12mo. Decorated cloth, $1.50. 

A BOOK of classic fable and romance, from the ancient 
story tellers, retold for young people, giving in simpli- 
fied and shortened form Homer’s ‘‘ Battle m the Frogs and 
Mice,” a stirring bit from the ** Birds ” of Aristophanes, the 
story of Phaethon and the runaway horses of Apollo, the 
wooing of Pelops, Atalanta’s Foot Race, the story of Hero 
and Leander, etc. The entire book will arouse a keener in- 
terest in the work of the classic poets, and will thoroughly 
entertain as well. 


LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers 
254 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. 




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